Kingdom Hearts:Rewritten
by Kumiku-chan
Summary: As the title suggests, A new version of KH with close to the same ending. Some slightly different pairings and a dash of OCs. I know, I know, this idea may be over used, but check it out if you have the time.
1. New Beginnings

Guide:

/ -thought

"-Speech

Hiya! Kumiku Here, this is my first fanfic (not including the Paopu Variety Show.) Anyway, it's disclaimer time.

DISCLAIMER: I don't own Kingdom Hearts as a whole or any part thereafter, so don't sue me.

Now…what to call this…I know!

**Kingdom Hearts: Rewritten**

I always wondered how KH could have been different, so I made this. I also have another one, but I don't know if I'll post it cause the idea was a bit overused.

START—Sora's PoV

Sora had just finished fighting Darkside. He was falling through the darkness. But, when he awoke, he was in a strange room.

"Where, where am I?"

Sora had just awakened, and he was extremely sore. When he tried to move, he gasped in pain.

"Oh no! Are you alright?"

A girl had come up to him. She was probably a year older than him, yet she didn't seem as young as she was. She wore dark jeans and a deep blue top upon her tan–like skin. Her green hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and she wore a vine like necklace with golden leaves, and what looked like pearls. She seemed a bit…different.

"Helloooo? You okay?"

He realized he had been staring. He blushed.

(Note: This new character (I.E. me) will not be dating him or anything. He (Sora) will end up with Heartless-Girl. Because I can't stand Kairi getting anyone, especially since she caused so much turmoil in the friends' lives, (though I can't totally blame her) and she asked in her review at the Variety Show. Details of the guys you can pick should be in the Variety Show as well. Remember to ask for your guy, I might even make a bit of a crossover. For that matter, I've already claimed Riku for the Variety show and this, but if you ask, I might make another fic with him for you guys if you want.)

"Sorry…" he said. "Where am I?"

"This is Re'almia, my home. You're…different from others here, are you from another world?"

/I'm on another world/ "Yes, I believe so…"

"Wow!" the girl said, getting extremely hyper; "You really are! What's it like? What your name? What's your favorite color? How old are you? What's your world called? How'd you get here? My name's Ume (It means sea, water or ocean, in Japanese.) My favorite color's green. I'm 16 years old."

"In order…It's nice and peaceful, but a bit dull sometimes. Green. Sora. 15. Destiny Islands. And, I don't know."

"So your favorite color's Sora and your name is Green?"

Sora laughed. "No, it's the other way around. Re'almia huh?"

Sora slowly sat up out of the bed he was in, and looked out the window. He was speechless. It was a place of…the only way to describe it was…true, undeniable beauty. The houses were all made of a tough, but extremely beautiful wood. The paths in between were made up of rocks. There were small children running around and chasing each other in simple, but at the same time, fittingly elegant dresses and pants.

There were adults hanging laundry on strong twine between two or more trees in their front lawns. The grass was a pure green, like many of the people's hair. Some of them had blue, pink, blonde, orange, and black hair. It was as though all the colors of the rainbow had come to grace them. All that was just to the right.

There was a clear, blue stream flowing gracefully through a forest. The trees were tall, and the line between the trees and village wasn't man-made. As if nature had created that paradise just for them.

"Amazing isn't it?"

Sora snapped back to reality.

"Um…yeah…."

"It's a wonderful place to live, but I want to see another. Not that I don't love it here, but…I can't get it out of my mind to explore. My mother always said my curiosity would get the best of me one day."

Ume saddened for a moment, but continued talking.

"I-I want to know what's out there, to explore and meet new people… To see a world other than my own. I wanna see it all…"

Sora was amazed.

/There _are_ other worlds, and people like us as well. I can't wait to tell R-/

Sora realized he didn't have a way back to his family, his home, his friends. He frowned. Ume noticed this and told him to rest.

"You should sleep a little, you're still injured and you don't wanna get worse do you?"

Sora shook his head.

"Good, lay down and I'll go get you something to eat."

"Okay, thank you…"

Sora went to sleep.

Ume's PoV

She walked toward the small kitchen to make a meal for her guest. She started to slow down as she reached a cupboard.

/So, mother _was_ right, it is going to happen./

End chap.1

**Author's Note:** Ok, I'm not that good at fics, but I'd like it if you'd R&R so as to give some constructive criticism and tell me what you think of this and if anything needs to be changed. Many Thanks! Kumiku


	2. A New Friend

Riku - "It seems the author _finally_ decided to start this."

Kumiku – "Well I am sooo sorry, I was writing a few other stories and got a bit occupied. Sorry my readers. And Heartless-girl, thanks for the review. I'm giving the character modeled for you a different name though, Sachiko. If you review me with a different one, I can change it. Now my eternal muse, readth the disclaimer…ith.

Riku - **:sigh:** Kumiku-chan is a poor 8th grade student (I.E. has a crappy allowance) so she does not own Kingdom Hearts or any other copyrighted place though she may have invested in it by purchasing a smaller part of its franchise.

Kumiku – Thanks. **:smile: **

Kingdom Hearts: Rewritten

_**Chapter 2: Yes, I will try using cool titles now.**_

**Sora's PoV**

(I'll be using I for the characters as though they're talking.)

I woke up.

"You're awake." Someone said happily.

Expecting Ume, I stifled a groan when I saw the face that hovered above me.

"Kairi? What're you doing in Re'almia?"

"Re'almia?" she asked, looking skeptical, "This is Destiny Islands, don't you remember?"

I looked around. Sure enough, this _was_ in Destiny Islands. Re'almia had all but disappeared, though I still felt a nasty ache in my stomach.

/I wasn't dreaming, was I/

"I guess she found you first."

Salvation! Now I didn't have to be left alone with _her_. It was one of my few friends, Riku. And he was one of the two that could stop Kairi from attacking me.

"Hey Sora!"

Ha! Take that Kairi! That would be my other shield, Sachiko. We called her Miki for short.

"Oh…hello Riku, _Sachiko_." Said Kairi in false kindness.

"_Kairi_." Riku and Miki said in unison.

"So Sora, what were you doing up here?" asked Miki.

I realized just where I had been sitting. I was up on one of the Islands highest points; how I'd gotten there I couldn't say. That's when I remembered the dream.

Kairi laughing. Riku surrounded by dark currents of water, reaching out. Miki disappearing in a flash of light. Then waking up to it all in Re'almia.

"What a weird… dream?"

Somehow, I wasn't entirely sure it was just a dream.

"Yoohoo, Sora…" said Miki, waving her hand in front of my face. "What'd you zone out for?"

"Oh…sorry."

"What were you thinking about?"

"N-nothing." I said, her face getting closer.

"Was it me?" she asked, giving puppy eyes.

"Yes, I mean no!" I yelled blushing.

"Are you two lovebirds done?" asked Riku mischievously, "We _do _have a raft to work on."

Kairi simply scowled, and if you asked me, it suited her. How did she get so different from back then?

Miki replied seeming oblivious to Kairi's frown.

"Yup." She said, grinning, and started to walk to our raft.

"………." Of course, I was still blushing.

Riku was on the verge of laughing when Miki ran back to us to tell us something.

"Th…there's a g-girl on the beach." she said, panting a bit from the run.

We headed down to the beach near the raft and I recognized someone familiar…

**Ume's PoV-Before she saw Sora disappear**

"Mother…"

I guess you wouldn't know, so here's the full story. My mother and father were 'leaders' of Re'almia, in a sense.. Even so, they were outcasts.

They had come from another world.

Mother's had appeared here with two of her friends. They were found unconscious in the cellar of the palace when a maid went down to retrieve food for the prince's party. They met the prince not long after, and immediately he took a liking to them. They were permitted to stay.

Growing up with only each other, it was inevitable they would marry. My mother married one of her friends and the other friend was betrothed to the prince. Each of them had 'special' powers. I didn't know all of them, but my father could make anyone calm and content with a few words, and my mother's friend could heal and pass along the ability with a certain ritual. That was the reason for my people's appearance. My mother herself had an innate ability to create things. Anything from art to weapons, you name it.

Years after they had gotten settled; I was 12.

I had finally finished my lessons in magic and my parents were throwing me a party. My mother thought it a perfect time to tell a story.

**Flashback**

"A long time ago, there was peace."

"Like now?" I interrupted.

"Like now." She said smiling.

"The worlds-"

I raised my hand, interrupting again.

"There are other worlds?" I said, eyes sparkling.

The adults all smiled softly at that.

"Yep, with many different types of people and places."

"Wow…" I said.

"Now, wait till I finishing telling the story for more questions, or we might not hear the end until next year." She told me playfully. 'The worlds were all connected, the happiness of the people cycling through them. The reason for their happiness was a light."

"A light?" I said, quickly covering my mouth and widening my eyes. "Whoops…"

My mother continued to smile.

"This light was the most beautiful light of all the worlds, and it shined everywhere. It stayed in a place called Kingdom Hearts."

All of the children listening gaped at her, wondering what kind of place it was and if they would ever be able to go.

"But light can never exist without darkness, and soon jealousy rose up. People wanted the light for themselves, but that wasn't fair because little did they know, the light had come from all them."

"How?" asked a child to my left. Her name was Tundra, she was my best friend, and her parents oversaw the water in our world, making sure it stayed pure. At least, that was as far as anyone was allowed to know.

My mother thought for a moment.

"To tell you the truth, I was never sure. But I believe that the goodness in everyone's heart gave the light its power to shine as it did. But when those few people became greedy, the light dimmed."

"No!" cried out a pair of 7-year-old twins.

"When the light got darker, the people grew angry, being consumed by their inner darkness, giving birth to a darkness that equaled the light. Those people became known as the 'Heartless'. The more people who became 'heartless', the greater the Darkness became until it consumed the light, leaving only a speck."

A lot of the children burst into tears at that point, Tundra and I were probably the only ones who stayed focused.

"Don't worry, there's more. That speck was the light of the children of the worlds."

"Children?" we all said. The ones who had been crying stopped immediately and listened.

"Yes, the children. They saw what had happened and found a way to protect the light. The speck of light took the form a weapon that held the Darkness at bay and grew stronger as the children worked. Finally, they separated the worlds and sent Kingdom Hearts far away to seal the Darkness with their 'key'. After it had all ended, the children sent their key away, to be sure it would not fall into the wrong hands. They left to join their old worlds, entrusting their state to another world and they remain separated to this day."

A lot of the kids were happy, and were eagerly talking about how it could be them who did that one day, but Tundra and I still had questions.

"Was it really a good thing to separate the worlds? We can't see all of the other people now…" Tundra said sadly.

"It was a good thing at the time, but I can promise you that one day, when everyone finally can accept their differences and add to the light of Kingdom Hearts, the Worlds will join again."

"Really?" I asked excitedly.

"Really." My mother replied. "You'll know the time is near when someone comes to this world. There will be a battle, but if you keep your light burning strong, you'll defeat the Darkness and find Kingdom Hearts. That's when the worlds will be connected."

"But peace can never last…" Tundra muttered darkly, I think I was the only one who heard her.

**end flashback**

Tragedy came the day before my thirteenth birthday.

(Yes, you're all probably bored from hearing her/my past, but this is important to the story.)

**Flashback**

"Tundra!" I called out. "Tundra!"

"Yes?" my friend replied.

"I-we-mom-wait." I panted.

We were standing in our favorite part of the forest. We stumble on this place when we were ten and had come back ever since. Amazingly, no one had ever found it.

"My mom wanted us to come to the house for dinner, she had a 'special surprise' she said."

"Mrs. Sadaki? But your birthday isn't until tomorrow."

"Strange huh? And she said to call her Sakura, 'Mrs. Sadaki' makes her feel old." I said laughing.

"…….." she remained silent and went to our house.

She had been acting even stranger lately, especially with matters concerning my parents. Tundra had been like this since she turned 11. She was the oldest by 1 month.

"Mom! We're here!" I yelled.

"Ow! Not so loud Ume." Cried my father as he peered out from behind the grandfather clock. That's where he kept the room to practice spells in. I guess he was working on Echo.

"Sorry." I said sheepishly.

"Good, I wanted to show you guys something…" said my mother.

We followed her down to the room where she built her 'experiments' and stuff. Sadly, we were the first people to try it out.

"I just remembered, I have homework, gotta go bye!" I said, trying to escape.

I stopped running when I realized that Tundra had been holding my shirt.

"Awwwww…" I whined.

"Don't worry, it's something cool."

"Dear father who art thou in-"

"Stop praying! It's not that bad!"

"What about the time my skin turned orange for a week! My eyes are _still_ changing colors from the explosion three years ago! Then the times when I spoke backwards, went blind- do I need to go on?"

"……It's a sword."

My eyes lit up at that.

"Well! Come on!" I said happily, dragging a slightly bewildered Tundra.

What I saw seemed like the most beautiful thing in all the worlds.

"I'd almost give up my Sai for this…"

"Good-bye crossbow…" said Tundra.

The sword was crafted with shocking precision. The hilt was a double-headed dragon facing either side with a golden inlay and an Eternal Eye (priceless made up jewel) at the tip. The blade….the blade….. It was pure silver on one side and a deep black on the other. The edges were purposely jagged and yet had equilibrium. (Think lightning bolt.) I'm not sure if I could describe it but basically, it oozed awesomeness.

"Um, Ume…you're drooling…" said my mom.

"Sorry…"

"Anyway, I wanted to show you Ginma because I want you both to try using it tomorrow. It's a specially spelled blade set to change depending on the owner's best-suited sty- Ume! Don't touch it!"

After a bit of wrestling, they took it away from me. It didn't matter, I knew where she stashed all the stuff she didn't want me to find. Tundra'd help me reach it later.

"See you later Sakura, Ume."

"Good night Tundra." My mom and I said in unison.

- - -

"Huh?"

I had just woken up to shuffling downstairs, when I dressed and went to check it out, I was surprised.

"Tundra?" I asked, rubbing sleep from my eyes. "Why do you have the sword?" I said, reaching for her.

"Don't touch me!" she yelled, hissing.

Hissing?

I looked at her a second time. Her eyes were yellow, different from their normal green and silver. Her pale skin had a sudden tan and her once tame, ice-blue hair was now orange and flaring. It looked like… she had overloaded. Like the time I saw Dad stop using his magic and accidentally keep drawing power in from around him. Where had all that energy come from?!

"What-what happened to you?"

She ran off without another word, unfurling black, leathery wings. They weren't the kind a few knew how to spell onto themselves either. They appeared almost out of thin air, from this weird dark-purple and black stuff that was following her around.

I ran outside into what seemed to be a flash storm. Calling my Sai(now I'll call them… Getsuei(1) Suei for short.) From the shed, I followed her.

When I caught up, she stopped and turned around, smiling.

"You wanted to find another world right? Well, here's your chance.."

"Tundra?" I said carefully.

Suddenly, the air around her intensified in darkness and it seemed to swirl around, engulfing her.

"No!"

I ran up to her to stop her from being pulled away. I faltered and realized that what ever had her was trying to take me too.

I struggled and kept trying to reach her but the Darkness was too strong.

"Ume!"

That was my mother's voice! They had come!

My mother took out a sword while my father had a wand. He went to help Tundra while my mom fought of the Darkness around me.

I was free but when we turned to father, all that we saw was the red orb that once carried the magic of the wand.

My mother froze but told me something before rushing toward the forest.

"Inside my treasure box with the humming bird on the front, is something you need to find. It will open when the time is right. Protect it with all your might and keep your light burning, always."

I went home and took the box as she said. It seemed to give off a strange aura.

Knowing I couldn't just stand around, waiting for it to all be over, I went to the forest. When I noticed a few dark shapes going in the opposite direction, it gave me a bit of comfort to know that everyone else had made it to the special Emergency Shelter and had already warded it.

I kept running until I reached the secret spot. I saw my mother kneeling with her sword, chanting. She was giving an eerie glow. Frozen to the spot, I watched as small creatures with dark bodies and yellow eyes tried to attack her but were kept away by the glow. A man walked out of a cave I had never noticed.

"You are…one of _them_." He whispered.

My mom started in a cold sweat but never stopped her chanting.

"I didn't know the children had survived this long, but it seems you are the last…"

Children? So…she was one of the…the story!

"With you gone, there will be none to stop me from my goal, to see Kingdom Hearts, the gate to true Darkness!"

He laughed if you could call it that. I was afraid, but I still did not move. I think the treasure box, the Hanauta Tori (2), was protecting me somehow, since none of the darkness came toward me.

"Ne-ver A-nsem.." said my mother…straining to speak as she finished her spell.

So the name of this….creature was Ansem. I would take care to remember that.

"If you say so…" said Ansem, before raising a sword to strike her down.

She spoke quickly, placed a seal on the ground, and was hit.

"Mom!"

I rushed to her side. She was gone when I got there, and left nothing but an earring.

From her seal, a bright light spread out over our world, halting the destruction that was taking place. Ansem disappeared, surprised at what just happened, through the cave.

I carried my mom's earring to the town center. I let everyone know what had happened. They let me go alone to the graveyard to make…empty graves for my father, mother, and friend. Holding back tears, I went to help the others clean up. After that I moved out and everything was back to 'normal'. Until now.

**End Flashback**

I prepared a quick meal and went to check on this Sora. When I got there, he was gone. Knowing this couldn't mean anything good, I packed a travel diary/spell book, Suei, and my treasure box in my book bag. As well as some other miscellaneous things. When I stepped outside, I looked at the sky.

"The storm." I said, before fainting.

**Miki's PoV**

"Hey, are you awake?" I asked, shaking the girl a bit.

She stirred at that and grumbled something that sounded like '10 more minutes.'

"I think she's fine." Said Riku.

Kairi had decided to leave to get 'help', which meant she didn't care and wouldn't help. I couldn't stand that girl, but there wasn't much I could do. I was still angry when Sora told me she suggested that he go with her. Alone. By himself, without me. Riku was a great friend, but we weren't like that. Sora was my closest friend, and occasionally I thought I wanted more, but I'd always shake a thought like that off.

Sora seemed to recognize her.

"Ume?" he said to her.

"Go...away…I…sleeping…dad…" she said, opening her eyes.

Riku was leaning over her so when she sat up, freaked out, they bumped heads and he fell in the water. Sora and I couldn't resist laughing over how silly they looked. Did I detect a blush from Mr. Cool?

"That wasn't that funny…." He said through gritted teeth.

"Owwww…" the girl whined, rubbing her head.

She stood up, holding a book bag. She was wearing some sort of dress. Dress…light…. I tossed the jacket I carried around my waist. Thank goodness she had been facedown in the sand, and luckily, Sora was too busy laughing at Riku.

"Are you done yet?" Riku said, slightly annoyed.

"Y-yeah…" said Sora, laughter coming to an end. "But you might want to get that seaweed out of your hair."

Riku's hands shot up, trying to untangle the seaweed. Sora almost started laughing again, but I clamped my hand over his mouth.

"Ahem." I said, clearing my throat, "maybe we should get to know the newcomer?"

Sora's face grew a bit serious at that.

"Your name is Ume, right?" I asked.

"Yeah…" she replied looking around.

"How'd you know her name Sora?" I whispered.

"It might sound odd, but I dreamed I met her. At least, I thought it was a dream, until now." He whispered back.

I was kinda feeling uncomfortable then, but I brushed it off. Maybe I should stop doing that…

End chap.2

**Author's note: Ugh, I know, not much fighting or anything, but I promise to have some in chapter 3. **

Riku: Don't listen to her, the last time she-mmmph!

Kumiku: **:holding hand over Riku's mouth: **He's kidding, I'm sure that there'll be some.

Koryu: Why am I near you again! I was only here for the Variety Show, which, may I remind you, bombed.

Kumiku: That's why I called you back, you didn't finish the Paopu Variety Show, so you get to work here.

Koryu: I don't care! I'm leaving!

Kumiku: **:whispers to Koryu and lets go of Riku:**

Koryu: **:sitting in corner mumbling:**

Kumiku: If it makes you feel any better, Ruri, Hari, and Kohaku will be here next chapter.

Koryu: **:thinking of pranks to play on Kohaku:**

_Translations:_

1 Moon

2 Humming Bird

Without the A/N, this chapter was a whopping 2836 words. I think that that's a record for me.


	3. Darkness Rising

Riku: Hello, Kumiku is currently unavailable, so we the semi-loyal servants- **:gets hit by…an invisible paperfan:** I mean _employees_ will be here instead.

Kohaku: Ow… Where'd I land this time? I really have to practice the spell to Earth…

Koryu: **:smirks:**

Ruri and Hari: Master Koryu! **:snuggle:** Yay! Master, can we?..

Koryu: Yeah, sure.

Ruri: I get his right hand, you can have his left. **:bites Koryu's right hand:**

Hari: Whatever. **:bites Koryu's left hand:**

Kohaku: Koryu! What are you doing here!

Koryu: Actually, I work here.

Kohaku: :sweat drop: Work? Here?

Koryu: Not by choice, but the author decided to bring you here.

Kohaku: Uh oh… **:puff of smoke:** No! I'm chibi!

Koryu: **:evil laughter:**

Yes, this chapter may be a bit odd, but that's just to keep this fun because I expect something bad to happen this or next chapter. Whoops, did I spoil the plot too much? Ignore the silliness~ of bathtime and Ahlay-san. XD

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Kingdom Hearts, Kairi would have died, horribly, and Riku and Sora would be lovers, but you don't see that happening now do you?

Kingdom Hearts: Rewritten

**Chapter 3: Darkness Rising (ok, something must be wrong with me…)**

**Riku's Pov**

I finally managed to remove the cursed seaweed out of my hair and listened to my two friends speak.

"Your dream?"

"Yep."

"You saw her."

"Uh huh."

"… Are you high?" (I seem to like that phrase a lot….)

Both Sora and I fell over.

"I doubt it. Sora may look like an idiot, but being an idiot and being drunk are two different things."

"Exactly- wait, what was that?"

"I said, just because you look like an idiot-."

"I heard that!"

Sora yelled and tried to attack me. Of course, I dodged and he landed on his face.

"Owmmph." He groaned.

"Ume?"

The new girl turned as I spoke.

"How did you get here?"

"That was a bit quick. No 'are you alright?'" Said Miki.

"But you are the one who said we should get to know her." I retorted.

"…I'm not really sure…I can't remember what happened, only a few bits and pieces."

"What about Sora?" asked Miki, grabbing Sora and dragging him over.

"Hey! Put me-"

"That face does look familiar…Hey you're-!"

Sora looked up.

"Yeah!"

"-a boy!"

Sora proceeded to fall over once more.

"Of course I'm a boy!"

Ume looked sheepish. "I…just couldn't tell at first…"

At that, it was me and Miki's turn to laugh.

"Don't worry," I said, " it happens. Some guys just look girlish." I teased.

It was the second time today Miki had to stop Sora from saying anything. You have to love being able to do that.

We stayed a bit longer to just chat with her about the Island and left. I still don't believe it: There's someone from another world here! She looks so… different. So do her clothes for that matter. It makes me wonder just how the places we explore will be…

We had agreed to visit Ume again tomorrow to make sure she was settling in well at the small hospital we had. When we went back the next day, it almost seemed like she had forgotten us for a moment, but she looked okay after a bit. The nurse told us that she was stressed from something and that she'd need one more day. We ended up just talking about places we planned on going, and about the raft we were working on. After that we left again. On the third day…

"So, you still can't remember a thing?" Sora asked, putting his arms behind his head.

"Nuh-uh. Nothing. I don't know why… The Doctor said I might need to get something to jog my memory, but no matter how much I stare at that back and in-openable box… they don't give me anything. They still look really familiar though."

"So," I started, "What will do we do?"

Sora volunteered an answer. "Just wait I guess. I mean, we're not in a rush right? "

"While she remembers, why don't we all go to the secret place? We should start showing her around anyway, we'll work on the raft later." Suggested Miki.

"Secret?"

"It's hard to find if you've never been because it's hidden by some rocks and grass."

"Secret…"

Ume seemed thoughtful for some reason, though I figured it was the whole 'secret' thing.

_FF to secret place_

"Wow.."

Ume was looking around the secret place. If you asked me then, I would've said she reminded me of a hyper kid.

She continued to dart around, staring at the drawings along the sides of the cave. When she got to one she stopped.

**Ume's PoV**

"Re'almia…" I whispered.

My memories had come back at one glance at this drawing. I reminded me so much of me and Tundra's _secret place_. But this included something that I had never seen before. It looked like the cave that that creature had come from, but it glowed.

"Ume, what's wrong?" asked Miki, snapping me out of my reverie.

"Nothing, I just remembered something."

"Cool! What did you find out?" Sora asked.

"I do remember meeting you now, and I remember who I am, but after you disappeared it's all blank."

I felt bad lying to them, even if I simply didn't say anything, but I thought it wouldn't be good to tell them. I didn't want them to worry and it wasn't as if that guy would come here.

(Ummm….- -')

"Too bad." said Miki "I was hoping you could tell us how you got here."

"Me too." Said Sora.

Riku remained silent and looked like he didn't believe me. But what can you do?

It was getting late so they decided we should leave. Miki invited me over her house seeing as she was the only girl willing and she needed her jacket back.

_Fast Forwarding…again_

"Thanks for letting me stay Miki."

"No problem."

After sitting around awhile, we got bored and decided to play a game.

(Yup, Truth or dare.)

"Truth or dare Ume?"

"…Dare." I smiled.

"Perfect! I dare you to…eat that!" She pointed at this strange looking thing. When I saw the label on it, I felt a look of horror cross my face.

"Not the- Not the-!"

"Yes, the _Science Project_." Miki said evilly.

I went to the…m-moldy bread and…ugh…ate it.

Miki stared at me wide-eyed.

"I was only joking, I didn't think you'd do it…"

I could feel the cruel glint in my eyes, oh would it be fun getting revenge, but first, I ran to hurl.

"Truth or dare?"

"Ermm…T-Truth?"

I could have burst into a maniacal laugh but settled for a giggle.

"Ok, What's the name of the person you like most on this island?"

She blushed when I asked.

"Wait! I mean, I meant dare…"

"If you say so. I dare you to tell me the name of the one you like most on this island."

"Agh!"

I laughed at that and waited.

Knowing there was no way out she mumbled something.

"What? It's only over when everyone playing can hear it."

"..It's-"

"Ow!" yelled a voice.

"Shut up! If they hear us we're in trouble!" another whispered if you could call it that.

"Then stop kicking me!"

Miki and I walked up to the hollow the noise came from. (Note: They're staying in a tree house like place except it's not in a tree and it's furnished.)

"Oh boys…" said Miki.

"Crap! They found us!" said a cowering Sora.

"If you hadn't been so loud they wouldn't have known we were here!" said Riku.

"Why were you spying on us?" I asked with several anger marks.

"We were worried and wanted to check on you?" said Sora.

"Check on this!" Miki and I yelled in unison, throwing them out.

"How about we never play that again?" I said.

"It would be too soon." Replied Miki.

"I still expect an answer from you though."

"I doubt you'll receive one."

We went back to munching on junk food and reading.

"It's too quiet out there." I said.

"You're right."

When we went to investigate, we found Riku and Sora knocked out and…whoops.

"Maybe we threw them too hard…"

"You grab Riku and bring him inside, I'll get Sora." She said.

"You know, I have an idea…"

"What?"

"Do you have any paint?"

"Yeah."

"Good.." I said with an evil grin.

**Sora's PoV**

'My head…'

I sat up and looked around, but stopped when I saw a mirror.

/What/ I thought, nearly yelling.

My face, arms, and legs were covered in paint doodles. I looked like a clown. I remembered being kicked out and falling unconscious and figured out who did it.

/Miki and Ume…/

Riku wasn't in any better shape, if not worse. I guessed that he was painted by Ume. The giant U-M-E scrawled across his forehead helped with that conclusion.

"Where are you guys!" I shouted.

"Haha we hahaha were behind the door." Said Miki, failing to hold in her laughter.

Ume however, wasn't so kind.

"You," she laughed, "look like," she laughed more, "a demented clown!" she finished, laughing till she cried.

"I noticed…" I said, giving a pout.

"It's you guys' fault for spying," said Miki, "if you wanted to know so much, why didn't you just ask to come over?"

I didn't have a reply to that, honestly, we never really thought about it. I was still bugged, so I figured I'd mess with Ume. Besides, I was curious…

"So, what were you going to say back then Miki?"

She stopped laughing and blushed.

"N-nothing, I-was only teasing Ume." She said nervously.

"Yeah, sure," said Ume, "and I _loved_ eating your science project."

"I know you did, you blushed green." Replied Miki.

"Very funny, now, Sora, you might want to get Riku so you guys can go to the- what did you call it?- Oh yeah, bathing Spring." (Lets just say that there's a special place like a bathhouse…somewhere.)

"I might as well." I said.

She went into another room. When she came back, she dumped a bucket of water on Riku.

"Hey!" he said sitting up, "what was that for!"

"I was just helping you out with that paint." She replied innocently.

"Paint?…"

He turned to the mirror and saw what happened. He then froze.

"Hello?" I said, "is anyone home?"

When he didn't answer, I decided to drag him to the springs.

**Miki's PoV**

"That was fun." I said.

"Yep." Agreed Ume.

We heard a knock on the door a few minutes later and Ume answered it.

"Who are you? I've never seen you before."

Yay, Kairi.

"Kairi." She said annoyed. "I'm looking for Sora, I couldn't find him at his house… whatever your name was."

Ume seemed to be getting angrier by the second and almost turned and reached for those two sword things on the dresser.

"Ume," she said stiffly, "and Sora went with Riku to the second island to pick up some supplies."

"Thanks Loony." Said Kairi, walking away.

"It's Ume you-."

I covered her mouth to stop her from saying something extremely rude. I seem to have to do that a lot.

"Ume, you may want to calm down."

"Fine."

We heard a yell and ran towards it. We ended up at the springs and went in without thinking.

"Are you guys-" Ume started.

We froze when we saw them. Sora and Riku both had towels around their waists and Sora had tossed Riku in the cool water to snap him out of the shock of being painted without even knowing it.

They turned to us and started to blush.

I could swear I heard a song playing. It turns out I did hear faint music and saw Ume lipsyncing.

_You make me want to lala, on the kitchen on the floor, I'll be a french maid, when I meet you at the door, I'm like an alley cat, drink the milk up I want more… You make me wanna- you make me wanna, scream._(1)

I turned away blushing as well and poked Ume.

"Ume? You're singing, and staring, and…drooling."

She turned away and blushed more than me, which must have been a record.

"S-Sorry, we'll-um- leave now." She said, pulling my hand along.

"Well, that doesn't happen everyday." She said when we were further away.

"No, no it doesn't…" I replied.

**Ume's PoV**

/I hope I wasn't really singing that…/ I thought blushing.

"Where did you hear that song anyway?" asked Miki.

"Back at home, the bands would come together for a single performance every year, excluding the once a month each did on their own. That was a song I heard from one of the really popular ones called Ahlay Simon." (course I changed her name a bit, it _is_ supposed to be a different world.)

"What does it mean?" she asked.

"Well- you see- if you don't know, you aren't meant to yet." I said flustered.

/I wish Tundra were here, she isn't bothered by things like this, or at least wasn't…/

I didn't realize that I had been speaking aloud.

"Whose Tundra?"

"She was a friend of mine who…went away. Sometimes I wish she were here so I could know she was alive, but I know that it's silly, I saw her disappear…"

Miki looked sad for a moment.

"I know you miss her, but no one's ever gone as long as you think of them once in awhile." She said, giving me a happy wink.

"I suppose you're right." I said smiling.

"Ume?"

"Hm?"

"Do you-want to come with us on the raft? You seem like a fun friend, besides, I'm sure Kairi can't make it, she's probably off stalking some helpless boy by now." She said with a snicker.

"I-yeah." I said.

"Cool! We might as well start working on the raft now, we've lost a bit of time the past two days."

Miki and I worked for about 15 min. before the guys came to help us. Good thing for us, we had all forgotten the little, 'incident'. We went on until sunset and had a near finished raft. We just needed to stock up some food and we would be fine.

_The mini-island of the Paopu Tree_

"Wanna hear the legend of the Paopu fruit Ume?" asked Miki.

"Sure." I said.

"Okay, Riku's best at this story."

Riku started to tell the legend. (Here's a bit of improvising to add to it on my part.)

"Sometime…awhile ago, the island ran into a bit of trouble. Storms, animal attacks, and many deaths. You name it, they had it. Worst of all, there was a killer of some sort, they'd hunt down couples and 'kill'(6) one while the other watched."

Ume looked unhappy. "This sounds more like a horror story…"

"Don't worry, that's not all. After more than a month, more than half the people had died, half of those being a suicide from the pain of losing their lover. Not long after that, one of the children on the island brought a friend they 'found in the forest'. This friend was extremely kind, and both ended up a couple. Their friend gave them part of a strange fruit when they were officially together, and it seemed they were never apart. Of course this made it so they were hunted, but the other would always know and feel if trouble was coming to their partner, so they were never harmed. Eventually, they caught the person and amazingly, all their troubles stopped, but he disappeared after a day of being kept in a jail.(Does anyone one know who, or rather, what they were?) In a few months, everything was repaired and the lovers had resigned to leaving. But one left behind a certain fruit in hopes that someone could be as happy as them. Hence the Paopu fruit. Now, if two lovers share it, they're bound for eternity, and no matter what, they'll never lose each other…" he finished.

**Ume's PoV**

"Wow…" I said. "I wonder what they taste like…"

"No one's actually tried the legend since then, so I'm not sure."

"You could always find out." Miki said making a gesture toward Riku only I could see.

I laughed and said, "What about you?" I said, making sure she was the only one who saw me point at Sora.

All she did was blush and shake her head. I think I finally now the answer to my dare now.

"What if we all shared one?" I said before realizing it.

Everyone turned to look at me.

"I meant that we don't want to lose each other while we take our trip right? If we all shared one, that wouldn't happen."

Riku thought a moment before speaking.

"It does make sense, but I definitely wouldn't want be bound with Sora." He said, sticking out his tongue.

"Why don't we all eat one? We shouldn't jump the gun on sharing it, we would be bound to each other, but if it ever does get to a dangerous part on our journey, we'll all share, we are friends after all." Said a half asleep Sora.

"I'm…surprised to say it, but that actually makes some sense." I said. Then I whispered to Miki with a wink. "This is your chance, just ask him to eat it while he's still sleeping."

"Sh-shut it." She said.

"Okay, let's do it."

"Now?" said Riku.

"The quicker the better, we don't know when we'll lose the tree, so why not now?" I said.

Too bad I didn't know how right I was.

Riku grabbed four fruit and gave us one each. We all broke it in half sat the other part down next to each other. I don't know why I felt so giddy, it could have been that I hadn't practiced magic for a long time. When you stop it tends to build up in you. But, I wasn't so sure. When I ate it, I couldn't taste anything, nothing at all. No matter how long I chewed it, it gave off no flavor. Only once did I taste something, but even then, I couldn't tell…

For some reason, it was familiar(2).

/ ?… /

(What they tasted is a reflection of something's that will happen to them later on.)

**Riku's PoV**

This was different from the fruit I had imagined. I couldn't tell the taste at all, it was like it couldn't decide how it was supposed to be, so it became all of the different possbilities at once.

/That was a bit odd… /

**Miki's PoV**

It was the best thing I had ever eaten in my life, but the flavor kept appearing and disappearing, always staying a little sweet, once it turned bad but was soon back to good.

/It tasted…different. /

**Sora's PoV**

I woke up the moment I ate it. I knew it had a taste of some sort, but I couldn't taste a thing the first few bites. Then it became extremely sweet, then probably the worst thing I had ever allowed near my mouth, but finally, it tasted so wonderful, I almost wished I would never stop eating the fruit.

/Definitely beats an apple. /

**?'s PoV(3)**

/What an…interesting little fruit./

I could almost see the aura around the four children. The strongest being the oldest girls', but that was no surprise, she was _her_ child after all. What I did see was each pair's aura join, it seemed their 'legend' was true.

/No matter, I'll get that annoying red-head again. She'll keep them apart and I can finally destroy that woman's child./

**Ume's PoV**

"That was…weird."

"Yeah…" the others agreed, still feeling odd.

"Should we…go home?" I suggested. "We can stock the raft tomorrow."

"Yeah, but first, the raft needs a name." said Riku.

Miki suggested, "Kinen(4)?"

Sora said, "Excalibur?"

"Highwind?" Riku added.

"…how about Shukumei(5)?"

"Shukumei….it's..alright." Riku finally said.

"Cool." I said, looking at him. He was really cute when-

"Ahem." Coughed Miki "If you're done staring, we should leave.

I blushed a bit.

/I seem to do that a lot now…/

We all grabbed half a fruit from in front of us and left.

When Miki and I arrived, we instantly felt drained, went to our rooms, and collapsed on our beds.

/To think, we'll be sailing to another world tomorrow…/ I thought, taking another bite of the Paopu fruit before drifting off to sleep.

It seemed a little sweeter.

_Later in the night_

I awoke to strong winds and beating rain. When I looked out, I stared in horror at the site in front of me. That damned storm haunted me everywhere I went…

I grabbed my weapons and packed once more, leaving silently, and hoping I could stop this before the others woke.

**Miki's PoV**

/Eh?../ I thought, rubbing sleep from my eyes.

Normally I never woke up like this, but I felt different. Looking down at my dresser, I realized I had snacked on it before bed.

/Whoops, If this keeps up, I won't have a fruit to share.

(About the sharing thing…)

When I checked outside for a noise I had heard, I saw the storm.

"Shukumei!"

I got dressed and hurried to save the raft before the storm got any worse. I was getting near it when I saw Sora, then everything went blank.

**Sora's PoV**

"Five more minutes mom…"

_3 min. later_

"No…more…cake…"

_20 sec. later_

"Miki? What are you doing here…." (teehee, he dreamed he saw Miki, I might make his dream a side chapter/ one-shot later, maybe.)

"Huh!"

I continued to lay down, trying to force myself to sleep.

"Note to self, no more Paopu fruit before bed…"

What happened next stopped me from noticing the Paopu disappearing until only a speck of neon light floated up from where it was. What was waiting for me outside also stopped me from seeing three other lights float by. I sat up quickly hearing a bang against the window. When I checked I saw a log hit the ground.

Log?

There was a storm outside and it was getting worse.

"We just finished the raft! Great…" I got up and changed so I get the raft. I took my wooden sword to defend myself from anymore projectiles.

I was still going to the raft when I heard a boom of thunder. On instinct I looked up and I could easily tell this wasn't a normal storm.

The clouds swarmed though it was pretty clear farther away, but the storm was still growing. And they said the eye of the storm was calm. The sky seemed to glow, silly it may be, but it was like it gave off an aura of Darkness. I couldn't believe I was so afraid of a storm. I had almost reached the raft when I saw someone else.

"Miki?"

She looked about to talk, but fell and with a small flash of light, disappeared.

"What the-!"

I was knocked down and when I turned to face my attacker, I was greeted by a creature with glowing, yellow eyes. It writhed and jumped to attack me again, but I blocked it with my sword. Not that it was much use, the sword shattered though it accomplished to throw the beast back. Save a few splinters, I was fine.

I got closer to the raft's anchor, but that was all I saw, it had been pulled out to sea by the time I arrived. When I looked at the tree on Paopu island (yes, that's its new name.) I saw another figure.

/Don't they notice the storm! They'll be killed/

I ran up there to see if I could get them out of the storm's way. When I got up there, I finally knew the figure's name.

"Riku! What are you doing! We have to go!" I shouted, barely heard over the noise.

He slowly turned, an oddly peaceful smile on his face.

"Don't be afraid of the Darkness Sora, It's not as bad as you think…"

I gave him a confused look.

"Riku?…"

He started to reach out as dark tendrils of…smoke(?) rose up from the ground. It seemed like they were dragging him down and I tried to stop them. Just a little further…

I felt myself fall and closed my eyes. When I opened them again, Riku was nowhere to be found, not to mention most of the island and the fact that the small creatures had grown in number. I noticed an unfamiliar weight in my hand and glanced down. I was holding…a key?

One of the creatures attacked like the one from before, but this time when it hit the 'sword', it was sliced in two and in its place was a bright light in the shape of a heart.

"So this can beat them…" I said, looking at the sword once more.

With two of my friends disappearing before my eyes, there was only one place The other would be…

I made my way to the Secret Place defeating the creatures along the way.

(Wow, just a bit more…)

**Ume's PoV**

(I'll take this time to make a note. I had totally forgotten I had put her in jeans, I was thinking of the flashback where she had a light dress-thingy. So pretend she had those two outfits with her. Now she's in the jeans again. Sorry bout that. . )

Those creatures, known as the Heartless based on the research I did after my mother's death (I didn't think we should bother with another flashback.), were flocking toward me. It was easy enough to get rid of them with the Suei. My mother did make them after all.

I ran to the place called the secret place. It must have been no coincidence that I saw that door out the corner of my eye the last time I was here. That must have been the source.

"We meet again."

I froze at the sound of the voice. It was…no….of all people…_Ansem_."

"_You_…" I hissed.

"Yes, _me_."

"What do you want here!" I demanded.

"The destruction of this world and it's return to source of all Darkness…Kingdom Hearts."

Another unwanted memory; another thing to worsen my mood.

"Kingdom Hearts does not birth evil, it's the home of light! How dare you taint its name by saying such a thing!"

"It is only the truth, and I know it is truth you seek. If you are unwilling to accept this, how will you ever accomplish your goal?"

"Like this!" I said, and lunged at him.

I tried to strike him with the Suei, but missed.

/But-I passed right through him…/

His voice was next to my ear and I could feel his breath as he spoke.

"Surrender, and I might consider letting you live."

"No."

I tried to strike him again, adding a quick spell for accuracy. He dodged again. Or…was that just an image? I couldn't be sure, but there wasn't another explanation for why he dodged me so easily.

"Maybe I can rephrase that: Surrender and I'll let your friends live."

He moved his hand and Kairi appeared, floating near the wall. To tell you the truth, I despised her. She was rude, laughed like she was high on something, and was a little sl- erm… I mean she was a little annoying, and I found all that out in the few days I was here. But I had to have a conscience and I could never leave someone at his mercy.

"F- fine…" I put my weapons down and stood there.

She fell down and Ansem pushed me over. I knelt down to see how wounded she might be, but to my surprise, she was smiling! Her appearance started to change and a look of horror crossed my face as she sat up and laughed, laughed!

It was a good thing I recovered enough to get my Sai again and get into a fighting stance.

But it's a bad thing I was knocked out.

**Sora's PoV**

(Almost all off the island. Phew.)

I got to the secret place and heard laughter, if you could call it that.

I turned a corner and saw the source, it was… Kairi? She was standing over a now fading Ume. Wench-er mean or not, I didn't think that she'd do that.

"Kairi? What are you doing here?"

She stopped laughing and frowned.

" 'What are you doing here?' Not a 'Kairi, are you alright?' Or 'is anything wrong Kairi?' No, all of you guys didn't care at all. And you kept me out of your little group, but that doesn't matter now."

/What is she talking about? Has she finally lost it? /

"I can take this from here, go back to the headquarters and tend to our guests."

"Yes sir."

/… Eh? /

Kairi faded away and I was left standing in front of a cloaked figure. But…that voice…

"You're the guy from two weeks ago aren't you?"

"Yes. And I see you have not heeded my advice." He said, glaring at the sword I now held.

"Where are my friends?"

"All in good time, but that sword of yours changes things. This will have to wait until we meet again.."

"Come back here!"

I tried to stop him but it was too late. I went back outside into the storm. The island was missing except for a path leading to Paopu island.

(I won't be typing up Sora's fight, so you know the deal. He fights Darkside Heartless, he wins, he falls, he wakes in Traverse Town.)

**A/N: So ends chapter 3 of KH:R…. **

REVIEWS

Heartless-girl: You're the only one to review both chapters and both of my other stories before they were removed, not to mention you made this a fav, **:sniffs:** thanks!

Aemi-Kaishima: Yay! A new reviewer! Thanks for the fav, and did I mention how much I like your stories? (cough**goreadhers**cough)

Extra Notes

(1)Eh, sorry for those who dislike Ashlee Simpson or that song, but I was watching MTV and heard her song which gave me a couple of ideas, so you have her to thank for this chapter, it was the least I could do to add a part of her song.

(2)This is important later.

(3) Want to help me write the story? Next chapter I'll be having them meet some charcters that will likely be in that one only. Guess whoever's PoV that's in and give me a fake name and I'll use that name for the character. If you couldn't tell right away, the last PoV tells you. (no this is NOT a chat, I'm simply too lazy to think up names.)

(4) Memory

(5) Destiny

(6) Didn't actually die per say… she saw her fall and disappear. Eventually, it'll be revealed…

See, I told you there'd be fighting, anyway, I do plan on something bad happening, something _really_ mean to one of the characters, but which one? Find out next time!

Riku: ...You scare me.

Kumiku: Good. **:laughs maniacally:**

If something confuses you, tell me and I'll make up an excuse- I mean carefully explain why it was like that. R&R please. Flames will be used to soothe Koryu, Ruri, and Hari's demonic souls while scaring chibi Kohaku, poor thing…

Ha! That's 2 ½ hours straight of work for ya. o('.')o And I can now make a (bad) Kirby! I pwn! xD

4, 817 words.


	4. Dreaming of You?

Kumiku: Hi again, I bet you're wondering what happened to Ume and Miki.

Riku: Of course they are, they already know where Sora and me are, and they're the only two characters you made up.

Kumiku: Quiet! This is for productional values, you always introduce the storyline before you go on.

Riku: There are a few problems with that,

is a fanfic, not a TV drama.

_has _no storyline.

Kumiku: You're right…

Riku: **:looks confused:** No excuse?

Kumiku: Nope… **:glomps:**

Riku: Hey! No glomping in the story!

Kumiku: I guess there'll be plenty of time after. **:pouts:** I guess you have Sora for that too...

Riku: **:blushes:**

Kumiku: **:smirks:** BTW, If you happened to catch my other stories before they got deleted, I said I was giving away the other characters here. If you can give me a fake name, your choice, and an optional personality, I can reward your review with your bishounen or bishoujo. But if _anyone_ for some reason, chooses Kairi, I will give your character a horribly gruesome death by her hands. I mean, this story is meant to have _Kairi __bashing_. I will not aid her by giving her a lover. **:cough: **Now that I've said my peace, on with chapter 4.

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Disclaimer: I think I've said this plenty of times, but if KH was owned by me, It'd be ¾ RikuxSora, 1/8 Kairi bashing, and 1/8 everything else. That'd probably make a sucky game if you weren't a fan of those two, but lucky for you I don't own KH.

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**KINGDOM HEARTS: REWRITTEN**

_Chapter 4: Dreaming of you?_

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**Miki's PoV**

'Ugh…..that…hurt.'

I had just woken up; the last thing I saw was…Sora!

I took a look around myself, but it was nearly impossible to see because of the light.

'Why…is it so bright?'

The light brightened even more until I had to shut my eyes from becoming blinded. When I opened them, the light had been replaced by darkness, well, more like a light twilight.

(Okay, this story will end up containing several theories I've found around the web, I'll explain them when I get there. This has part of the theory that the worlds of present, Twilight, and in-between (hope I called those right…) contain different parts of each character, more info later.)

After waiting around a bit, I figured It couldn't cause anymore damage to explore this place.

"Hello"

I whipped my head around at the sound, but at that I got an ear-splitting headache, like I was being ripped apart from the inside. But it left before I could cry out. The dizziness soon wore off, and the figure slowly came into focus.

(Yay! Another type of Unknown!)

They wore a long, dark cloak with a turquoise outline. It also contained… blue flames along the bottom, wrists, and hood. Along the trim, there was some weird language I had never seen before.

"Who are you?"

"Sorry, but I can't tell ya that."

Their voice was female and oddly carefree.

"I can tell you however, where you are, this is Rale'or (rail-or) But we like to call it the land of In-between; or In-between Junction if you want symbolism."

The woman, well that's what I figured from the voice, walked closer and I could tell she was smiling.

"You're Miki, and you're one of the few who are allowed to come here. I'm a Diviner, an intervener of fate, and I just rescued you."

"Th-thank you?" I said, unsure of what my response should be.

"You're welcome, but it was more of a personal thing. Without you, something bad would happen to me."

"Why?" I asked her.

"Another thing I can't tell you _right_ now. Oh, and I may not be able to tell you my real name, but I can tell you my alias: Nina." She replied happily.

**Ume's PoV**

'I feel horrible…'

I woke up to darkness. Pure, pitch-black, darkness.

'Where the hell am I! That stupid (that's _cough_censored_cough_) did something… and that _creature_ who calls himself a man…'

The darkness didn't bother me at all; it was who put me here that really got to me.

"Ume…"

"Who are you?" I said, reaching toward the Suei.

Something didn't feel right… Sure enough, when I looked down, the Suei were gone, along with my bag, and my mother's treasure!

"My real name is a secret, but you may call me Naozumi. And don't worry, your bag and weapons are with me." Naozumi said, I could finally see him for the darkness had settled for a dark twilight.

His voice said that he was male, and he held up my bag, wearing a deep-sea blue cloak with orange and black flames along the edges. I continued to eye him warily, wondering why he was even here.

"I welcome you to Rale'or."

/Rale'or/

**(cue flashback.)**

"Okay my little magician girl, I'm going to tell you a special story, but, you have to promise to never tell anyone."

"Not even Tundra?"

"Sorry, not even her."

It was after my party and everyone had gone home. I guess you could say my mother told me an extended version of the story.

"I'm going to tell you a little more about the children. You see, the one who started it all, the one who led the others, was one who was neither alive nor dead, tangible nor translucent, darkness nor light. You could call them androgynous, but we refer to them as a woman. 'She' came from a land where everything blended together."

This tale caught me more than any of what I had heard before, I allowed my eyes to widen as I listened further.

"This was one of the three lands, made to further separate the people from darkness by splitting them apart. Their true hearts, and two denizens to come from it. But I'll tell you more when you're older." She said, smiling.

If only she knew…

AGH! THE SHORTNESS! IT BURNSSS US! Well, I'm gonna be the next face on a carton if I'm not off soon, so I'm sorry if this was too short, I also want to give people a bit of time to nameof yourbishie and give a character idea (cough**yournameforthis**cough) before I start working on the chapter after this. Chapter 5 will be THE longest chapter for the plotless- I mean carefully planned story to make up for it. And- um- reviews!

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**Reviews**

Heartless-Girl: Hope that satisfied some of your curiosity, next chapter soon! (If my school and my family aren't too evil….)

Aemi-Kashima: Glad you liked the last chapter, hope you liked this just as much (or at least close). Thanks too, I couldn't decide on their alter ego's names, so it helped out. (wait, I didn't spoil the plot again did I?.. --')

Now…GO READ THEIR STORIES, and if you two are seeing this, PLEASE UPDATE SOON. o(''-'')o

-

_**TBC**_


	5. Dreaming of You? II

Kumiku: Welcome to chapter five! Un-beta'd and digitally remastered! Get ready for-

Riku: :pushes her down out of the way: Ahem.

Kumiku: Hey!

Riku: Don't you think getting to the story is the most important thing at the moment. Besides, I haven't gotten to announce in a while.

Kumiku: :pouts: glory hog...

Riku: :eye roll: Anyway, welcome to chapter 5! Have fun.

Kumiku: ...that's it? where's the dramatics? The fireworks? The fanservice?

Riku: :tilts head: There isn't any..?

Kumiku: Okies, we have a chat about real introductions to get to. Until the end of that, enjoy this chapter everyone!!

Reading Guide:

-'speech'- means Naozumi or someone else who can do thought speak is speaking in someone's head.

'speech' is a reply or a though that someone can hear, whether voluntary or not.

'speech' is a thought unheard.

The Horizontal Lines represent Point of View switches and the dashes in a row are a minor scene change, like from memory to reality and vice versa. (Working on advancing my writing style. I want to be good enough so i'm not always having to tell which point of view we're in. Let me know if I should just switch back.)

Warnings/Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts and the Disney aspects in no way, shape, or form lawfully belongs to me. I take no credibility in it's creation, nor do I make any money off its fanfiction. Liberties taken I do not pin on the companies and people actually owning these franchise. I do this purely for my own enjoyment and that of others. Thank you.

* * *

Kingdom Hearts: Rewritten

Dreaming of you? II

* * *

"Stop…"

I turned over to move my face from whatever was licking me. Something licking…

"Whoa!"

I jumped to find out what was going on, and jumped again when I remembered what had happened to me.

"Everyone…"

I took in my surroundings and the first thing I saw was… a fly. Then I noticed the dog and what we knew as a city. I had only been to one a few times, but I think this one was different from how they normally looked. The dog stared at me, perked up an ear, and ran away.

"Hey! Wait! Can you show me where-"

I sighed and walked out of the alley.

"What is this place?.." I asked to no one.

"Traverse town cutie." She winked at my blush. "I'm guessing you're new here."

"Who're you? I asked the woman.

"Talia. I recently 'moved' here. Everyone has their story, and not all willing tell, I'm one of those. If you want to know anything else, I suggest you head up those stairs. You'll find the accessory shop, which is run by a man named Cid. Once you settle down and find you need some help, call me." She smiled, gave me a card, and walked away.

"… People here seem… friendly enough." (A/N-Stop blushing! You didn't share your Paopu with her, you shared it with-! Never mind….)

I walked up the stairs, .

"Hmm? Oh, you're just a kid."

The man I saw behind the counter laying back reading must have been Cid.

"Don't call me that! I have a-" It took a moment to realize that I didn't still hold that weird sword. "What the- it was here a sec ago!"

He looked up again.

"Fine, fine, calm down kid. What do you need?"

Stifling my irritation, I asked him what I needed.

"Where am I? How'd I get here?"

"Ah, you're a newcomer. This- is Traverse Town. It's a place for people who've lost their worlds to come and start anew. Seeing as you're here, I'm guessing your world disappeared as well."

"Yeah…" I said, looking down. "…I'm looking for someone. Some people actually. They're my friends and I think they were lost somewhere."

"What did they look like?"

"There are two girls and one boy. The boy's name is Riku, and he has silver hair, blue eyes, and wears a yellow shirt with an X as well as purple pants. One girl, Ume, has tanned skin, green hair, and grayish eyes that might change color. She'll either wear a dress or dark denim jeans and a deep blue top. The last girl, Sachiko's her name, but she likes to be called Miki. (A/N-le gasp! I forgot to describe how you looked! Sorry bout that.) She's about 5'4¾", and has sea blue hair three inches below her shoulders, like the spring on our island. Her skin's kind of a sunny cream and she has bright blue eyes. She'll be wearing a bluish green tank top and a pair of blue shorts as well as a silver, tiger lily shaped necklace. (A/N-So sue me, I love blue and green.)

The first thing Cid said was:

"You've got it bad about that last one huh."

I definitely did not blush at that. Swear!

"Sorry, but I haven't seen your friends. Not everyone lands here when they've lost their world, some end up on others, some disappear with it, and some… are beyond help."

"Oh…" I looked down.

"…but I'm sure they're around here somewhere. Try checking out the other districts."

Instantly I brightened up at that shred of hope Cid gave me.

"Thanks! I will!"

I hurried out of the shop and headed to the Second District. But...was it me or was someone watching me?

When I entered, I saw a man running from somethin-... the creatures from the island! He slipped running and fell over. Then he turned over to face the beast, holding his hand in front of his face as it took a red light: a heart?- and disappeared. In his place was one of the creatures, but it wore the suit of a knight. It disappeared as well.

I walked forward, trying to figure out what was going on, when six of the small creatures came from out of nowhere and tried to attack. Shoot! Someone-!

I thought I was done for when it happened. That strange blade came back into my hand, forcing me into a fighting stance. With it in my hands, I easily… well, maybe not so easily, defeated the monsters. I guess the blade goes when it's not needed and will come back when I call… I'll have to remember that.

This time I went inside a hotel nearby. I was walking to the window when the door with signs of the sea emblazoned on it opened, nearly hitting my face.

"Oof." I said, falling.

Two women stood above me.

"Are you okay?" one said excitedly, leaning closer.

She had pink hair and yellow eyes that gleamed under the light. Her hair trimmed evenly around her shoulders and covered by a dog-eared cap would have stood out the most in this place if it weren't for the orange, sweater-like top and weird orange cargos and bag around her shoulder.

"Y-yeah." I said, not sure whether I should acknowledge this feeling of dread accompanied with seeing her.

"Are you sure? Maybe you should have a band-aid, or cut cream, or an extremely painful, highly volatile, won't-help-you-at-all-but-is-so-much-fun-for-me-to-give, shot."

"What?"

My eyes widened to saucers at the sight of the needle she held in her hand.

"Hold still!" She said cheerfully.

I closed my eyes and opened them when I saw I wasn't dead a few moments later. The girl being scolded by the other, though they must have been around my age.

"Kurai! How many times have I told you? You don't use the shot!"

"Yes ma'am." She said, pouting and looking down.

The other girl turned.

"I'm sorry. Kurai's a bit crazy. Though she may not look it, she's a certified doctor, a genius, but quite mad."

"I- er- see." I replied nervously.

Where was the sword when you needed it?

"My name's Akai. Who're you?"

This girl had black hair to the middle of her back, a headband with a metal plate in the center around her forehead, as well as kind, brown eyes. She wore a outfit that looked like the ones from that martial arts school on the main island. She also had furry, gray…cat ears complete with tail.

"Sora..."

"Hello Sora! We're just passing through here looking for a friend of mine."

"Yep!" said Kurai. "The one with the funny hair!"

"Stop that!" Akai said.

"Hmph. You only say that cause you like him."

"I- I-!

" 'I' what?"

"Oh be quiet you."

Kurai stuck out her tongue.

"But even funnier than his hair-"

"Quit it!"

"-Is the song I made up for him." She finished proudly with a glare from Akai.

"Don't you dare."

"It goes like this:

My name is Cloud. I have a sword.

I fight cactaurs, because I'm bored!

I like to ride, on chocobos,

It's better than, having afros.

And when I go, into an inn,

"Stop the song there." Said Ellen, tail twitching irritably.

Fifteen seconds, it's day again.

And I will use, a Phoenix Down,

So when I die, I will not frown.

Because I am Cloud, my hair defies all gravity,

And I can't have too many potions or I might get cavities!

If I can't slice you, then that's okay,

I'll use my magic, anyway.

And I will defeat, that Sephiroth,

Because he's not, David Lee Roth.(2)

Kurai finished the song beaming with delight.

"Didja like it?" she asked me.

"Kuuuuraiii…" said a seething/blushing Akai.

"Uh oh." said a sweatdropping Kurai.

"You have ten seconds."

Gulp.

"And I count by fives. 5."

Kurai was out the door before I could blink.

"10!" Akai ran out as well.

"That was…very odd." I said to myself.

'You're telling me.'

"What?" I said, looking around.

"I must be insane…"

I decided to return to the first district. But, one thing was still bugging me...

……Who the heck was David Lee Roth??

* * *

"She called the land Rale'or, the place of In-Between. Another name is the land of Dreams. There lived special people we call Diviners. They were able to see possible futures and where to change them, so they were nicknamed 'interveners of fate'. "

"Oh! Was she one of them?"

My mother laughed.

"No, she was still training. But she did get an early vision that led her to finding children with pure hearts and saving everyone, however temporarily." She said this ruefully and continued.

"She was quite kind to us, and even though she was supposed to be indifferent, she favored the light."

"Us?" I asked.

"I meant them. Sorry, I let my mind wander. It was her heart that was the center for the weapon. She gave up her physical body to help them. This is why the weapon was able to be so powerful. Another lesson for you. The most powerful things in the worlds are our own hearts. You would take care to remember that."

"I will!" I exclaimed.

'Mom told me about that place… so this is where the girl came from…'

"Yes, she was here once before. I never did have the privilege of meeting her."

I gave him a blank stare and somehow ended up 10 feet away.

'Can he… read my mind?'

"I can."

I searched within my own mind and found another presence. Closing my eyes, my mind became a room where I could see him.

'Get out of my head! And don't you dare look there! I said no! Stay away from that file, that dream is private!'

I tried to grab my memory from him but he opened it too quickly. I blushed as I saw him look at a dream.

-'Tsk, tsk. Only what, a week and already having those dreams? Really now, that's shameful.'-

'Shut it you! This is my mind, you shouldn't be here!'

He stuck his tongue out at me.

-'I can look at your mind if I want to. It belongs to me too, I'm you.'-

…What?

'…What are you talking about? The last time I checked, I was a girl, and standing right here.'

-'More like a part of you. This happens to a few rare humans and those who've shared a Paopu fruit. The sharers of the Paopu fruit are allowed to see us. Some of us are born here and have no double.'-

'But I didn't share one.'

-'That's where you're wrong, remember when you all out the other half of your Paopu fruit down?'-

'Yeah…'

-'All of you grabbed the wrong one.'-

This hit me like a ton of bricks.

'So you mean we all-'

-'Yep.'-

'Who'd I share mine with?'

-'You'll find out during your test.'-

Wait a minute, test?

'Exactly what test are you talking about?' I said warily.

-'Again, this is pretty rare. All four of you had your destinies preset, but that little fruit changed all that. Think of it as a choose your own adventure kind of thing. Sora and Riku have had theirs already though it may re-occur due to the Paopu incident. Now only you and Miki are left. You my lucky little omote, are first.'-

'Miki's here?'

-'The next room over, but yeah, you can see her when you both are done, for now…'-

He snapped his fingers and we were back in the room.

"It's test time, I can't help you now, but if I'm as great as I know I am, You'll make it. Maybe…"

"But-"

I was knocked out. Why does that happen so much?

(A/N- Man, it takes forever to do this, but I've written so little….. It's a good thing this is as fun as it is.)

* * *

"Hello Riku, and welcome to the castle Hallow Bastion."

Riku numbly looked up to face the she-demon so rightly named Maleficent.

"Thank you."

Lips carefully colored with purple lipstick curled into a victorious smile.

"We have many things planned for you here, but first, a small change in wardrobe."

She lifted a hand and a swirl of violet mist engulfed him. As it faded away, you could see the changes she had made to him. His hair gave off a sinister sheen, and from the neck down, his entire body was covered in a black… something. Upon his chest was the emblem of a black heart on a dark blue background that accentuated his muscles.(3) His wrists and hands were covered in the something similar to the black substance, but colored red, excluding his now royal blue fingers. Around his waist was a belt that did a double loop in an X shape to hold up a white, purple tipped cloth going around ¾ of him. Another new feature was the pair of royal blue, knee high boots with black and white stripe tips, and black soles. What could have been considered most interesting (4), was the black blade with a hilt of red, black, gold, and blue in the shape of a key.

Riku's eyes still held their distant look.

"Perfect." She said, her smile not fading. "Now, it's time for your lesson in the Darkness."

Another lift of her hand opened a room full of Heartless.

"Enter, and return only when they obey."

Riku nodded his head and walked to the room. The door shut behind him.

'This one has much promise…' thought Maleficent, 'I wonder… will he tame the darkness? Or will it consume him? There is one way to find out..'

She walked to the wall next to the door and it became transparent. Slowly her smile grew into an overconfident smirk as she saw how he took control of the small creatures. Yes, this one would work out just fine… the perfect pawn.

(A/N- I hope I did a good enough job writing him. I'm really worried I'll make him too out of character. I'll try to make his next PoV longer.)

* * *

"Er… okay Nina."

This woman kinda creeped me out. It's just, she gave off a-I know a BIG secret and I'll never tell you, I'll just tease you- vibe.

"Don't be so freaked out."

'Easy for you to say.'

"Yep, kinda is. That's a big plus of being me." She said.

'… I'm gonna pretend she didn't just read my mind.'

"You know, the first stage is always denial."

"Yeah… how'd you-?"

"Secret." Nina said in a singsong voice.

'… I really am getting sick and tired of secrets.'

"Too bad for you." She said.

I closed my eyes for a long blink and the next thing I knew, I was looking at her inside my head.

'Wow… a lot more organized in here than I thought.' I said, looking around the neat room.

-'Yeah, you always were pretty neat. You should stop cleaning for a while. Things are always a lot more interesting that way.'-

'Whatever. Now, I'd really like to know 1, why you're in my head. 2, why on earth I'm in this Rale'or place. And 3, why in the world you're trying to look at my dreams!' I thought-yelled, lunging at the paper and videos she held.

I stood up and put everything back.

-'But I was curious'-

'Yeah, yeah. Just answer my questions.'

-'Awww, don't be such a spoilsport. Fine. I'm in your head because it's more fun and I'm kind of, well, you. You're here because eating/sharing the Paopu fruit made it so you have to take a special test. Finally, I was looking at your dreams because I felt like it and the only time I'm allowed to is when you're inside your head with me. There, happy?'-

'What?'

There was a fall from Nina.

'I mean that I never shared the fruit, we all ate half and said we'd save it for later.'

-'You're wrong there, you all did share it. When you left the Island of the Paopu tree, you grabbed the wrong ones.'-

'So all of us ate a piece from someone else's?'

-'Yep. But you won't find out who until you take your test.'-

'Test? When? What's it even about?'

-'All good questions, and the answer's right around the corner.'- she replied even more happily than before.

Suddenly, we were out of my head and I turned around…just to be knocked out.

Why does this always seem to happen to the girl?

* * *

I walked around a dark room, still wondering what this test was about. Maybe I was just supposed to light the place up. I muttered a quick spell and brought a flame to the tip of my finger. It was still dark. I sighed, of course it wasn't that easy.

The room came to life without warning and three doors stood around me.

The first on my left was emblazoned with a sword surrounded by an aura of black light that dimmed the bright world behind it. Below it was an inscription.

The Warrior(3)

The path of the one wielding the sword.

Attacking head on, ceaselessly. Undying courage. A path of great power.. and destruction.

I guess that was what awaited me beyond the door. The test must have been to set my unbalanced future. I moved on to the door that had been straight ahead. This one displayed a magical staff similar to the one my father had used the night he disappeared. Its aura was a light blue, shimmering and making the background dance with color.

The Magician(4)

The path of the one bearing the wand.

Hanging back, giving support. Eternal wisdom. A path plentiful for the thinker, bringing forth Magic great… but to what end will you use them?

A magician… this would not be mine. Magic was appealing, and I had studied it a great deal of my life, but this was for my parents; and friend. Tundra was always much better- the description fit her well, and my parents' parents were the ones who had helped bring it to our world in the first place. I came to the final door. It was a shield with a white aura, illuminating the place behind it.

The Guardian(5)

The path of the one holding the shield.

Doing your utmost to protect your friends. Steadfast. A path for the one who would stop at nothing to give protection at any cost.

Another one I could not choose. After all, I failed to protect my family, my friend, and my world from the Darkness. How could I be a guardian for anyone? Frightening the first door may have looked, but then again, the darkness was something to fear only if you did not know what waited within it. You'd never be able to move forward if you let something as simple as that stop you. That was my path.

I had just touched the door when it swung open, blinding me with light. I could only shut my eyes and raise my arm to block it.

"You've chosen your path."

That voice… I knew I'd never heard it, yet it was so familiar. I opened my eyes and the place I stood was a sturdy, glowing, stained glass portrait of an angel, her wings outstretched.

"A late bloomer, your journey finally begins. Don't be afraid, face your enemy, and never forget…."

Enemy? Forget what?

A small ray of light suddenly shone over my head. Growing larger and stretching my shadow. I warily turned around, questioning what would happen next. Then I realized that my shadow's movements did not belong to me.

"You are the one- who will help seal the Darkness."

(A/N- that sounded okay and not too lame, right?)

It wriggled and started to stand. I stepped back and it separated from me. I tried to move again. But the angel, now not so angelic, reached up with stone hands to hold me in place. Slowly, the Suei materialized in my hands, but they seemed… different. Sharper, brighter, more decorative- stronger. I used them to stab at the hands holding me and they easily broke through, giving me two, slender cuts on my legs. I looked up and saw it had shifted to a new shape. I… know them. No… It- can't be. Why would he-

"Riku?"

It was unmistakable. The hair…the body…the eyes. They were his. I looked down and my shadow was back, so it had to be him. Maybe the test was over and they were letting me see my friends. I tried to smile and found I couldn't, the cloud of doubt and suspicion stayed with me creating a great feeling of foreboding.

"You're alright! I was so worried; I never saw you on the island and I thought you were- it doesn't matter." I said, and gave him a hug as though this was the last time I would see my friend again.

Is it just me? Or was that an electric shock?

He moved his arms from his sides and I thought he was going to hug me back. The fact that he hadn't said a word and wasn't breathing had just dawned on me. I carefully looked up and stared into his eyes. They were the same color, the same shape as before, but they just weren't… him. I tried to move back but there was a horrible pain in my back.

"N- no…" I said weakly.

Somehow he had gotten a dagger, its new home was my back.

My eyes started to glaze a bit, but I slowly switched hands with one of the Suei and removed the dagger from my back, tossing it away. Quite painfully I might add. If I had turned and looked, I might have seen the darkness leaking from out of it, and leaving a wound that now existed nowhere but in my mind.

"M-my friend would- wouldn't do that, who are you r-really?" I asked, unable to hold back the stutter in my voice. This was too weird!

'Riku' turned back into a shadow, growing taller this time.

A Heartless… woman?, stood before me at least seven feet high. Her golden eyes glowed brightly as she thought-spoke, face having no mouth.

-'Deception…. One hated among many. Lies are my power, and illusions their form. I am the 7th Fear, and your opponent. I see you got through my illusion, so you get the honor of fighting me in my true form.'-

"I'm ready… f-fight me. I won't forgive you for t- trying to trick me like that." I said, my voice somewhat stronger. I wasn't going to let this kind of thing stop me from fighting. I couldn't.

She glided to me at an inhuman speed; she would have struck me if I hadn't ducked at the last moment. Her fingers grew and became sharper than knives and she prepared to attack again. I started a summoning, one of the 10 I had been taught by father to use in times of extreme danger when I had no other option. Well, here I was with all my strength leaving through my back, fighting in near total darkness, having mind games played with me, and a giant heartless woman holding my impending doom in her hands. I think this qualified.

I spoke of the most powerful Ice spell my mother had ever taught me, Blizzara, and halted the heartless' movement. Kneeling, I laid down one half of the Getsuei and pointed it to Deception.(6) Next, with my hands interlinked at the hilt of the other half, I closed my eyes and spoke a spell.

"Iliana…Setsuna… I call upon your power…"(7)

I was almost back to Cid's shop when a voice came out of nowhere.

-'Ah, someone finally called. It's been so long...'-

The blade in my hands grew hot and I nearly dropped it. It cooled down and I still held it as it moved of its own will and pointed upwards to send out a ray of light.

The haze inside my mind lifted for a moment and saw I was surrounded by many small creatures that writhed about and bowed to me. I opened my eyes wider, questioning the reason I was here when the sword I found in my hand started to move.

My chest tightened and a shock of energy flew from my heart down my hand to the blade. Despite my attempt to keep my grip and hold it back, it lifted and pointed to the ceiling. There appeared a hole filled with something I couldn't distinguish and my blade sent out a ray of black light toward it.

"… Aria…"My 'other me' had fallen unconscious, signaling her test's start. I smiled, knowing that she could pass, but a frown wasn't far behind; success is never without sacrifice.

'Oh well, I'll just have to help her if that happens. Rules aren't much fun anyway.'

Her body twitched and I jumped knowing her test couldn't have gone over so quickly, her heart hadn't even left this place.

"What the-!"

Her neck gave off an eerie blue light and a…. necklace rose up. I noticed a gateway had opened and the light was heading to it. It passed through and connected to two other ones to form a bold, silver light that passed through a second doorway, heading to the next 'room'.

"A… summoning? But- that was among the ones that were supposed to be locked away a long time ago… and those lights belong to-."

I went to Naozumi's room to tell him the news, although I was sure he had already known.

I finished the first half quicker than I thought, but the ice was wearing off and she looked angry. Next, I opened my eyes, looking for the light father had spoken of when he taught me this. I found it heading to my blades and laid them on the floor together. The light touched them and they bound themselves together, glowing with the silver light. I rounded off the spell. The Getsuei glowed as light hit them and overwhelmed with energy, shook and joined to their secondary state.

"Using their power, I swear I'll hold you back."(8)

I picked it up and rushed Deception. The ice decided to take that moment to break, and I slashed through her. The second the sword touched her, she had been obliterated. I guess I overdid it when I choose the spell, but it was the first that came to mind. That summon was a bit problematic since it only lasted until the object that it was used on hit or cut something. It also took a lot out of you. I dropped the weapon and as it split into separate pieces, fell unconscious for the third time. Really, am I cursed or something?

* * *

Things seemed all right now that Ume's heart had returned to her body, meaning she passed. But that light troubled me. I guessed something similar happened with Sachiko when Nina came in.

It really made me wonder, what did they do all those years ago?

* * *

There was a dim haze in front of my eyes. I felt my heart wrench for a moment, but it passed and my vision became clearer.

I was in space? No… After doing a double take, I saw stars in a room of some sort surrounded me. The walls were made so I could even see the planets and bright stars in the distance. I also noticed that there were doors, hard to distinguish at first since they were painted to blend in with the rest of the room. When I read what was on them it seemed kind of obvious that the only way out was to choose my 'path'. I mean, it's the sort of thing that happens in these situations, right?

Looking closer at the doors to the 'Warrior', I could see faint marks beneath the words. I checked and it was the same with the others. Maybe I was just making a mountain out of a molehill but they seemed so…ominous yet, familiar. So…..- I shook my head. After all, I did want to finish the test. For some reason I had a feeling I wouldn't want to be in here long.

As for my choice…I would sometimes play with Sora and Riku when they fought, and I could even win, but….a warrior's path just didn't suit me. I felt it. A magician…….I would have to think of the other one first. To be a guardian… that was what I wanted most. I reached for the door, but something told me to stop, like it was calling to me from behind the door of the magician. I turned the knob, accepting my fate. All I could see was light until it dimmed and turned black.

"You have chosen well."

Eh?

"You shouldn't be afraid, It'll be okay."

I don't know why, but I thought I could trust that voice. Then again, my parents always did warn me about listening to strangers; though it's not like it was trying to give me candy or something stupid like that..

"Don't be deceived, your heart will be tested here. Keep your light burning strong and your way will be well lit. Make sure you don't forget…"

What?

"You are the one who will help free the light."

Another bright flash and I stood on some sort of large platform. It was a stained glass image of the elements.

The first corner depicted Water. It showed a violent sea with a small, wooden boat that was about to sink. I guess these were their bad sides.(9) To my left and behind me, Wind was a twister spiraling out of control, ripping apart houses and trees. Earth had boulders flying and a horrifying earthquake behind me and to the right. Finally, on the top left, Fire was a wild blaze consuming a tall stick; above the flame you could see blonde hair flying in the wind. The center was an open grave. I shuddered and looked away, but not before noticing a small, blue compass in the center, like some sort of guide. It pointed behind me. When I turned I saw… the island! I could hear the gulls as they flew about the palms and the sound of the sea life. I whipped around and saw only water.

"But- I was-."

Still questioning what had just passed, I walked around until I noticed that someone sat on the edge of Paopu Island. I walked closer and recognized the spikes instantly- Sora!

"Sora!" I called. "Hey!"

He turned and smiled, still kicking his feet over the edge. That's it, it must've all been a dream after the storm knocked me out! It's a lot easier to believe than suddenly having some random, weird, cloak-wearing woman tell you your destiny just changed because of a fruit. I smiled back and hurried up to him.

"Did you see the storm?"

"What storm?"

That was… odd. I'm sure I saw him before I passed out…. Maybe I was dreaming. It must have been the Paopu fruit.

"Forget about it… what're you doing?" I said, going to stand up near him.

"Just staring at the sea, thinking."

"You? We aren't in another dimension are we?"

Either I blinked or the world had flickered.

"How'd you know?" he said, smile fading. (A/N- It's sad, even fake Sora's dumb. Um… I mean slightly slow.)

"I was joking, but I see two can play at that." I laughed.

"Oh."

I rolled my eyes and sat down. "Still as bright as ever I see."

I gasped at what happened. Sora had lent over and pulled me closer, making my head lean on his shoulder. I was blushed and decided to ask him a question. Of course, as nothing was making sense, I completely ignored the fact that this was a very, very un-Sora thing to do. Hey, if I was dreaming, why not go with it?

"Sora?"

"Yeah?"

"You know when you told me Kairi had asked you to leave with her, just the two of you? I always wondered, were you…happy?"

"No. Of course not. Kairi isn't exactly the nicest person around, remember?"

And now, a very un-Miki like thing to say. "G-good. Because I've been meaning to ask to tell you something awhile now. I l-li-like you, but I want to know if you feel the same…And-if-you-laugh-I-swear-I'll-hit-you-so-hard-you'll-"

I was standing up to go as I went on talking, but Sora stopped me by grabbing my arm.

"I like you too Miki." He said, hair hiding his face.

He pulled me down and whispered in my ear.

"And I'll like you even more when I see you bleed."

(A/N- :gasps: This isn't supposed to be horror!)

I could literally feel the surprise and realization flood my face. I cried out when I felt his favorite pocketknife hit my side.

(A/N- Interrupting again, I feel a little bad writing this part. But, again, everything used has its own reason. Anyway, the purpose of this is so I can tell you something. You see, Ume has only been on the Islands a few days, so the setting and voices of her friends haven't been there long enough to be used in her test. Miki has been there since she was little, so she knows them and everything well enough to see them and hear Sora talk. Just so you know.)

"Who- are you? Sora wouldn't do- he wouldn't say those things! That's-!!" I added, looking down. The world around me returned to the platform and 'Sora' stood before me, smirking.(10)

"Tha name's Armine (are-mean), and i'm here to off you. Well, 'test you' is what they say, but rules were never my thing." The voice belonged to a boy, but it was definitely not Sora's.

He seemed to step out of Sora's form as it disappeared in the dark. He had zero features other than green eyes to tell him apart from a dark shadow with abs. ...which looks so much weirder than it sounds.

"I'm the 6th fear, Betrayal, and you're not very fun. Most seem to quit after that last bit." His voice held a smirk and a ball of green energy rose from his palm.

"I don't care who you are, but I won't let you beat me. If I can beat Riku (once. . ), I can fight you for sure. I-"

I got caught off guard when I felt a weight on my neck. Scratching at, I managed to pull of my necklace and widened my eyes when I saw it grow.

The stem of the lily elongated until it was more than a foot long with leaves entwined around it. The flowers simply grew and became more numerous. It flashed and when the small light faded the color had become far more luminescent rather than a plain silver. Another necklace appeared in it's place.

-'Use the spell.'-

'What?'

-'Here… I'll give you the power… Ultima Firaga….'-

(A/N- The girls are going to have some very different powers. I don't want them to just run around while everyone fights the big fights..)

A wave of images flooded my mind, showing and telling me what to do. I stood with my right leg stretched out behind, and my left leg bent in front. Then I aligned my arms with the wand pointing towards the Armine's chest.

"Ultima Firaga…" I spoke, barely above a whisper.

He looked fairly surprised, if I was reading his expressions right, at my knowledge of the attack. All the better, I can't believe he did that, yet it still happened…

After the fire and dust faded, I looked once more. His deep, dark, purple-hued skin was now burned black, and patches of it had seared off.

"Get ready to pay for that." He growled, rushing me.

In his hand a small ball of gray light was forming, giving off sparks of electricity. He swung his arm and let it roll off his hand, sending it plummeting towards me. It was too late to move so I lifted my arm instead, using the wand to shield me. It caught the attack, but I was thrown back so that I nearly fell off the edge of the platform. I shakily stood up. I had never before used magic and it was starting to take its toll.

'You know, now would be a good time for the creepy all knowing voice to show up.'

-'I'm still here, don't worry.'- said the voice, -'It seems the fire was not strong enough, though he was weakened considerably. Try this.'-

The voice went on to tell me, and somehow show me another spell. I relaxed and found the core within where my magic resided. Focusing a little more, I found the power for the spell.

"Rairaga..."

The clouds above split apart, rushing aside and giving way to the light. A lone beam settled upon Armine and he cried out. The light was too strong for him, the sheer intensity of it gradually eroded him away into dark smoke. Where the smoke was, a small, round orb of purple-black clouds appeared. This melted away.

Miki blinked once. Twice. And fell over unconscious as she made her way back to her body.

* * *

Beneath the door of the Magician, another set of marks formed by the faded 'T'.

~Sachiko - light~

A figure emerged from an unnoticed lamp shaped stone on the ceiling, floating down until softly landing below.

"So, the final pawn has joined the game…"

A female voice gave a small laugh and the figure smiled.

"It's about time, I'm tired of watching the worlds disappear," They said with a stretch. "I want to see them return. The sky was so much more beautiful back then…."

And, with a thoughtful look, they vanished.

* * *

Reviews:

Heartless-girl: Thank you! Now I have another name! New character…. :laughs at future scenes:

1: They're friends from Cloud's old home. Call them... writer's conviences?

2: I didn't make up the song. It's a really cute one I borrowed from deviant art . com, and I thought it would be fun to use. I suppose the lyrics are somewhat copyright to the artist, but with the use of Cloud's character... squaresoft/enix too? Look up 'Cloud song' and it should appear, but I'm not sure I got all the words right, I haven't watched it in awhile. Just so you know, I changed Cloud's background story a bit. :sigh: There are so many more chapters for this, I've barely passed Traverse Town. But that means you readers have something to keep you busy, so at least this doesn't go to waste.

3, 4, 5: I wanted to do an original description for each path, but I'm not always that great a thinker as some of you could probably tell. At least I… tried?

6: If this doesn't make sense, think of it this way. Both blades make the Getsuei, deemed Suei for short, so one blade makes up half. Plus, you'll soon see that the two blades can be made into one. Which, was the point of the test. To give her weapon a new form.

7: Sheesh, so many notes. I plan on covering this later, but you know how Ume's mother talked about the one who gave up her form and heart to be a weapon? She wasn't the only one... also, those 'Fears' are to be tackled next chappie or…whenever I get to them, so questions in regards to those should be asked then. Basically, they're the dark emotions people hold close to them. The whole concept of KH has to do with Hearts and the way they work, I figure this'll be a good way to explore that. 'Fears' was the only word I could think of. Maybe I'll come up with a new name.

8: Summoning their power is something only eight can do. Who they are and why you can summon again, is to be explored. I'm very sorry that this will take so long to go through. But hey, reshaping an entire plot is a bit challenging without some liberties. But, she won't be able to do this again. Maybe not till KHR2.

9: For those wondering... I was kind of going for a metaphor or... well, whatever you call it. You can't follow the light if you can differentiate between the darkness. Their tests give them to the darker sides of things. What could be... and what will if they're not careful. She's a magician, so if she doesn't know to respect how destructive the elements she's bending are, they'll consume her. Ah, and the compass thing, well, that and the angel of something to do with the final powers I have planned for the two.

Hope I put enough fighting stuff in that. What's to come: We'll finally find out how Riku's 'test' went and we get a bit of background on the seven when they were much smaller. Although, Nao and Nina's parts may just end up in another chapter. My newly remodeled plot calls for real info on them to come during KH2:R. The rest…. I'm still not sure of. -,-' Any questions? Say so in your review and I'll do my best to answer. I'll be drawing/writing up bios soon enough so that should cover most. Be warned though, the only one(s) getting real info will be the beta(s). So, I'm sorry if I can't answer you. See you next chapter, Wanderlust! (Title pending.)

Omake- Behind the scenes 1

Sora sighed and spun in a chair.

"When do we start work on the next chapter Kumiku? I'm bored here."

Kumiku walked over to him, frowning at the loss of her spinning chair.

"When I feel like it. Do you know how tough it is to write and act in a fic?"

Sora stood up.

"It doesn't stop me from still being bored."

"Then go find someone to fight with or something."

This was followed by a glaring contest between the two. If you put a hand in-between them, you probably would have gotten an electric shock. Unless you were Miki... She walked over and pulled them away from each other.

"Stop it you two. We have to re-shoot a bit anyway."

The bishie and writer turned and cried, hugging Miki's legs.

"No! Don't make us go back there! We'll be good, we swear!"

By this time, Riku had come in as well, reading over the script again.

"I just realized something, you're a Mary-Sue."

Kumiku's eyes burned holes through him. You can insult her descriptions, heck, you can chat up about her looks, but never acknowledge her Mary-Sueness; not even if you're a bishie.

"I'm… a what?" she said, growing taller every second.

"You want a Mary-Sue? Well then, let's see how you like this." She took out her 'special' notebook and pencil and wrote.

"The girl stood by the corner, waiting for her beloved. His silver hair that gleamed in the sun. His boastful, yet still kind attitude. His soft lips when pressed against hers. She held her breath when she heard footsteps and beamed when she saw whom they came from. 'Riku!' She said happily, racing into his arms and kissing him. Time stopped and the worlds sighed as they embraced-"

"Ahhhhh! Make her stop!" screamed Sora and Riku.

"How could you write such an evil thing?" asked Sora.

"Evil?" she asked as her face formed into a twisted smile. "Shall I continue?"

"No!" said the two, beginning to whimper.

Miki simply sighed and shook her head.

"And I have to work with these people…"

TBC

Just filling up some extra space here. I still hoped you liked it though. Constructive criticism much obliged. I know I likely need it. 'BTW, this is the new version. I just fixed a few spelling errors and plot holes. Edited where I could, etc.

Still beta searching, till then.


	6. Journey's Start

Kumiku: uwaa~! :stretch: Finally…

Riku: About time, it's been getting boring out here. I've already beaten Sora 999 times-

Sora: Yeah? Well your winning streak end-oof. :KO'd:

Riku: :puts away Soul Eater: …make that 1000 times, and Miki and Kairi won't stop glaring at each other.

Kumiku: What's with them?

Riku: :sigh: Kairi won't admit she stole the last cookie and Miki won't admit she took her Sora plushie.

Both: Did not! :turn to each other: Don't you lie! Agh! :attack:

Kumiku: :sweatdrop: Alrighty then… anywhos, welcome to chapter six! I hope you like it. ^^

Kingdom Hearts: Rewritten

Chapter 6 – Journey's Start

"Sora!"

I'd just woken up from the fight and things were a bit hazy. I can't _believe_ they made me fight him! How could they? Those- wait… where were they?

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"So she's one of them?"

"I doubt it. I mean, she really doesn't look the part…"

"Jeebies! Aren't we supposed to know everything?" Nina said, stomping in exasperation.

"You do remember who we are right?" Nao began with a sigh. "We weren't born with the bloody powers. We weren't born here at all!"

"I know that but-…" Nina froze a moment before turning around. She smiled as she walked toward the other room. "Congrats Miki, it looks like you pass-"

She went flying before colliding with an invisible wall. Miki hit the ground running after the flying kick, heading to Nao before leaping at him, both feet first. He tucked and rolled to dodge the attack letting her fall next to Nina. She shot up and ran at him again with one hand to the side; unconsciously summoning her wand. He rose up his hand and called up a staff to block her.

"Ugh-stop-dodging-and let-me-hit-you!"

Nao jumped and aimed his weapon. "**Stop**." Miki froze mid swing, her eyes all that could move.

"Eeks, that was a doozy," said Nina as she stood and dusted off her cloak.

"Just what is wrong with you?" Nao said pointedly.

A few minutes passed and Miki was silent, so, Nina spoke up. "…Just a suggestion Nao? You might want to undo your 'stop' spell."

Nao's eyes widened and an irritated blush settled on his face. "I was just about to, thank you."

He mumbled something and let an even angrier Miki down from the spell, shielding himself for the worst.

"Why? Why did you make me fight him? I mean, of all the people… what was the point!?"

"_We_ didn't make you," Nina started with a sigh, "Remember? The one you shared the Paopu with, the one you share your _destiny_ with; they were to be involved in the test. As a reminder, there is no good without the bad. You can't reach a light without a shadow and so on and so forth…. That was basically an anti-form of them, taken from your memories. A lot can't get up the courage and sense to fight a loved one, which is why so many don't pass the test."

"So, in essence, you shouldn't be so freaked. It's a good thing you saw it through. Besides, like she said, that wasn't even the real him. We couldn't possibly know where he is, or even if he's still-."

"Nao!"

"What?"

Miki relaxed her stance, replacing pain with irritation. "…fine, but I won't apologize. You could've at least warned us we'd have to fight them like that. And you," she stated turning to Nina, " are not allowed in my dream files." She made an X with her arms. "Off limits."

"Pshaw, you're no fun."

"ung…you should really lighten up. No, really. I mean seriously lighten up. You're standing on my hand."

"Eh? Ume?"

"Well, I'm pretty sure I'm not anyone else."

"Sweet dreams?" asked Nao.

Ume sat up slowly and turned a fierce glare on Nao. "What do you think?"

"You're not going to try and kill us too are ya," Nina questioned defensively.

"I would've, "She said, looking the two over, "but I guess Miki beat me to it. Nice job."

"Thank You."

"Honestly, of all the warriors in the world, we just had to get stuck with them..." Nao sighed.

"Hey! We resent that!"

"I'm sure you do. Ume, summon your weapon."

"Er, sure."

"Oh!" For the first time, Miki noticed the wand in her hand. She examined it slowly, wondering where in the world it had come from.

-'Lilium.'- thought spoke a girl's voice.

"What Nina?"

"Huh? I didn't say anything."

A puzzled Miki stood staring around, searching for the source of the voice. 'Er… where are you?'

-'My name is Lilium. My wand form is Helix. If you ever find yourself lost, call my true name.'-

'Wait, how are you talking? Where did you come from?'

No more answers.

"Hey, guys…"

"Yeah?" answered Nao.

"Um… nevermind," said Miki. She decided to keep the incident to herself, just in case being with these three had finally driven her crazy.

"About ti-. Whoa…" Ume had finally managed to call the weapons after speaking their name. She had wondered why they'd been so reluctant and felt so unfamiliar, but all thoughts were pushed away as she took a good look. Her Suei had changed form. They were larger than before, and the handle slightly shorter yet shaped for an easy hold. The blades were curved differently and were no longer rounded, but still had the shimmering blue color to them.

"Cool!" exclaimed Ume, "This is so frikken awesome! I can't believe these upgrades! Tundra would be so-." She stopped. Even after all those years had gone by, she still expected her friend to be around…

-' Don't look so down, I'm sure she's fine.'-

" tch, how would you know Nao?"

"Know… what exactly?"

"Eh?"

-'My name is Getsuei, and the form you see now is still known as Suei.'-

Ume closed her eyes in surprise and went inside her mind's sanctum to see the source of the female voice. A wispy, shadow-like form stood before her. 'You're my- well, former sai?'

-'Yes.'- The figure glanced up to the side as if noting something that had just passed by. It turned back to Ume. –'I'm sorry but I can speak no longer, and please, don't ask any questions. You'll find out all you need to know eventually. Goodbye, and remember, you can always call my name in desperate times.'-

'Getsuei?' Ume was met with silence.

Nina looked from Miki to Ume, wondering just how come they'd gotten so quiet. Of course though, she shrugged it off. If Naozumi hadn't noticed it then it probably wasn't important. "Nao? Ready to tell them?"

"If I must. Miki- Ume- listen." The girls looked up at him. "We're going to be leaving this place. It's served its purpose and you've both passed; so it's time to go to another world."

"Why so sudden," Miki asked. "We've just woken up. I barely know how to use…" She trailed off while she recalled the name, "Helix."

Nina replied. "Because, I-am-bored."

"Of _course_. Who could argue with _that_ logic?" Said Miki, making Ume snicker.

"Well, Miki has a point," Ume said. "We should probably wait longer. I mean, the Suei have changed too… I need to get used to them."

"hmm… maybe you're- nah. Nao!"

Naozumi rolled his eyes and raised his hand. In the space his palm was facing, a whirling portal of lights appeared, shifting through ever color in the spectrum until shimmering pink.

"…Pink?" said the girls in unison.

Looking irritated, he grumbled a reply. "I didn't ask for it."

"Aw, I think it's cute!"

Ume had tears in her eyes from trying not to laugh. 'Cute' and 'Naozumi' just didn't seem like they'd go together. "Yep, same color as the blush you're wearing."

"Oh just get in!"

The four stepped through the swirl of light. After crossing through, Nina glanced up. "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you guys something."

"Yeah Nina?" asked Ume.

"We can't really help you anymore. You see, we kinda live in your head."

Miki and Ume stopped dead in their tracks. "Eh?"

"Truth be told, in our current forms and power levels, once we leave this world we're no better than imaginary friends."

"Huh?"

Nao let out a sigh. "She's saying 'you're on your own'. All we can do is talk to you, not fight or anything- just get you there. Even that will be hard to do. It takes a ton of energy to speak outside of Rale'or: Most of it yours. Once we're in the next world, you gotta find your own way off of it."

"…Maybe I should've kept hitting you when I had the chance." Miki stated as she massaged her knuckles.

"You can't just leave us like this!"

"Actually, we're already fading. You're about to hit the Fall."

"What's the Fall?"

"Er, Ume?"

"Hey! Answer me!" Ume shouted at the empty space that was now Nina.

"_Ume_?"

"Ugh, not you too Nao." His form just smirked and vanished.

"Anone Ume!"

"_What_?"

"I think we're in it."

Ume looked down at the swirls of blues and reds that had appeared under them. "Ah…I see… Hey, what do you think is keeping us up?"

-"Your stupidity."-

"Oh great, now I get you in my he-ahhhhh!"

Both of them began to fall down with Miki yelling something along the lines of 'why me'.

-'Miki,'- Nina's voice called, -'What are you doing?'

'Oh, just thought I'd _drop in_ on some random world. What about you?'

-'Sarcasm later, get Ume's hand!'-

'I think we're a bit too preoccupied to cuddle.'

-'No! If you don't you'll be separated! That's the problem with the more… unorthodox ways of travel. Things get kind of crazy.'-

'Now you tell me?'

Gravity must have bent its rules at that moment; they suddenly stopped falling. "I'm gonna guess and say that's not it."

"You're probably right. Come on! Grab my hand!"

Just as Sachiko finished her sentence, various forces began to bend the space. Ume felt her entire self being pulled away from Miki and quickly got a hold of the hand stretched out toward her. A moment later, they shot off in a randomized direction, the lights around all turning black. Again their movement abruptly quit, but this time they landed on an invisible surface.

Soon, another portal, this time green, appeared in front of them. "Oh, I know I'm not going to like this." Miki said, shaking her head.

"Well," Ume started in a determined voice. "Only one way to find out."

Gulping down anxiety, they trekked thorough the new gateway… at least until Ume tripped.

"Oof," exclaimed Miki as she stood up. Since Ume had been in front of her, she had the misfortune of falling as well. "Watch it next time, ok?"

"Mmmppf umpf fumpf!"

Miki looked down before quickly stepping to the side and off Ume's back. "Ouch…" she mumbled when she'd gotten up.

"Ooh, sorry."

"S'okay. What'd I trip on?"

The two turned and looked below and hurriedly glanced back at one another. "Oh. Crap."

"You said it."

--------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------

Cid looked up from the book on aerodynamics he'd been reading to see the boy who had been in earlier open the door. "Did you find them?"

"No." Sora said, his shoulders falling a bit.

"Hey, don't look so down. I'm sure they'll turn up eventually. Not everyone from the same place turns up all at once. Just be patient."

Sora's eyes brightened a bit at his words. "Really? Then…I guess I'll keep looking!"

"Good." Cid put the book down and reached behind the counter for something. What he pulled out was a shining silver bracelet. "Here kid."

Sora walked closer to the counter and took the bracelet from him. "What is it?"

"It's called an accessory. Warriors wear them all the time. Each one has different effects they can give you; but, if you wear too many at once, they cancel out the other's effects. A beginner should only wear three; max. This particular one is called a Protect Chain. It's on the house."

"Thanks!"

"Welcome. But remember, no more freebies."

"I will. See ya!"

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Sora walked down the steps of the accessory shop and into the district. 'Where is everyone?'

A voice soon let him know they answer. "Hand over the Keyblade."

Seconds later Sora was dodging an attack.

"What's wrong with you!"

Sora stopped and took a good look at his newest opponent. An older boy with brown hair wearing black clothes and a silver lion-shaped chain stood before him. Well, until he came in for another attack.

"Agh!" He was hit on the shoulder. It seemed as though it had hardly touched him, yet there was already a bruise forming. He was guessing that without the accessory it would've hurt a lot more. He'd have to thank Cid again later. Sora ran to the other side of the street to get a chance to gauge the new enemy and rubbed his wounded shoulder. All that sparring with Riku was about to pay off.

The running, however, didn't help.

The other boy's weapon glowed for a second, before letting out a blast of fire. Sora twisted and ducked.

"What is that?" he wondered aloud.

"The Gunblade. Not that it should matter to you. Hand it over."

"No way!"

"Then fight."

"You'll lose. You're definitely not as fast as-."

The older boy leaped and landed right in front of Sora, already preparing to strike another blow. Sora was faster. He struck at his legs and jumped away. While the boy was disarmed Sora ran to strike again. He was flung back by a counter strike and hit one of the streetlights.

"Ouch…"

The boy stood up and aimed his weapon once more as it started glowing. Sora looked around for something to dodge behind but it was too late. The blast was already coming at him. Sora closed his eyes and swung the blade. 'Did 'ouch' really have to be my last word?'

A loud bump made him open his eyes again. The other boy was slumped against the wall with the Gunblade skidding away to his left. Sora looked down at his own weapon. It was smoking. When he swung the blade, it must of deflected the attack and sent it back to his opponent.

'I can do that?' he thought.

"See, I told you… you'd… lose…" Sora's mind clouded from exhaustion and his vision blurred. He saw the other boy stand and head to pick up the Gunblade. A girl's voice called out as he collapsed to the ground.

"You're slipping Leon."

'Leon's' grunt in reply was all Sora heard before he passed out.

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"Hey!!"

Sora shifted and turned away from the voice that had been bugging him for the past 10 minutes. Sheesh, let a guy sleep!

"C'mon you lazy bum. Time to wake up."

That got him awake.

"Kairi?" he said, "What's wrong?"

He rubbed his eyes at her and sat up some before his thoughts finally caught up with him. 'Wait…How'd she get into my room?!"

"Geez, I think you might've overdone it."

His vision blurred, then flashed; and in Kairi's place, another girl stood staring at him closely. She wore her black hair short with an outfit almost like the one that weird girl had on earlier. When he glanced behind her, he saw the older boy he'd just fought leaning near a door beneath a strange-looking clock with a grimace.

'Why do I always seem to meet the weird ones?'

"Hello~. Awake now? Hi! I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie, not Kairi. The shut-in over there is Squall."

"Leon."

"Yeah, Yeah. Well," she said, looking at Sora expectantly. "Aren't you gonna tell us your name?"

"Sure… I'm Sora, and I'm guessing all that stuff with the island wasn't just a bad dream."

"No, it wasn't a dream," said Leon. He moved from the clock over to the chair the Keyblade was leaning against. For the first time since he'd been there, Sora realized he had let go of his weapon. "The nightmare's just beginning."

Yuffie laughed and playfully punched him in the ribs, earning herself an anger mark. "Oh come on Leon, do you always hafta be so dark 'n gloomy?"

"…yes, actually." He turned to face Sora. "You said your name was Sora, right?"

"Uh huh."

"So Sora, I'm betting you've been around long enough to see the Heartless?"

"Heartless?"

"Yep!" Yuffie's look grew a bit serious. "The Heartless are beings of Darkness. Where they came from, no one's completely sure; but what we do know, is that they steal people's hearts. The main one they're after is yours."

"Why mine?"

"Because you," Leon said as he lifted the blade off the chair, "bear the keyblade."

"Whoa!" Sora jumped in surprise when the blade rematerialized in his hand.

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-Earlier-

"Just where could the king be?!"

"Gawrsh, I dunno. The note said to find the 'Keyblade Master.' I guess he'll be with them."

"I know that!" exclaimed an exasperated Donald, "But just how does he expect us to find them if we don't even know what a Keyblade is?"

"Um, excuse me, did you say Keyblade?

-Present-

"So, you know the King?"

"Yes. My friends and I met him awhile back. My name is Aerith."

"This is Donald, and I'm Goofy."

"Do you know where he is?" Donald asked.

"I don't for sure… But, I can tell you what's going on. You see the Keyblade…."

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"…is a weapon designed to fight the darkness. Again, not much is known past that, but it can be said it has a mind of it's own."

"But I didn't want this!"

"It was never up to you. The Keyblade chooses its master, and it chose you. I just don't understand why a kid could…"

"You're so silly Leon! It's his heart of course! Only a good, strong heart can wield the Keyblade. Apparently, you met the requirements. The Keyblade is one of the strongest objects in all the worlds, and the only one with any chance of defeating the darkness for good. So, now, to get rid of the Keyblade, the Heartless want your heart, and they'll stop at nothing to get it."

"You mean… it's my fault they attacked the island?" Sora loosened his grip on the blade. "All my friends are gone…because of…me?"

"Eh? Oh no no no. Even if you weren't the master, they probably would have gotten to your world eventually. This has been happening for years. We lost our world to the heartless too." Yuffie stopped for a moment looking at the wall behind Sora with a sad smile. "I can barely remember it now…"

Leon touched her shoulder and she shook her head before continuing. "But it's a good thing you have it. You can fight back now and with its help, you can probably find your friends."

The last part lit up Sora's face a bit.

"Alright." He held the weapon tighter. "Please, tell me more."

Leon walked back across the room. "The heartless' sole goal is to take hearts. As many as possible, and not just those of people. The hearts of entire worlds can be taken. Once it's gone you disappear. The Keyblade's power can save a world and prevent its heart from ever being taken. But again, we don't know details."

"Hopefully, if you can get rid of all the Heartless. Everyone and everything they took will come back."

"But, there are so many! Are you sure it's even possible?"

Yuffie shrugged. "Maybe not. It's worth a shot though. You'll never know for sure till you find the source."

"Then I'll just have to find it somehow."

"That's the spirit! Your turn Leon."

"Glad you're ready."

'You don't sound very glad.' Sora and Yuffie thought in unison.

"While we don't know much, there was someone who did. Ansem, our King. He probably knew next to everything about them. He created a series of reports on the Heartless while researching them. But, he disappeared and the reports were scattered across the worlds. Find them, and you find-."

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"-The King. He mentioned he'd be looking for those reports as well."

"So?"

"Huh?" Aerith said, surprised at Donald's sudden interruption.

"Well, there's no point if we don't have the bearer of the Keyblade!"

"Donald! You shouldn't be so mean!"

"Oh don't worry. It's all right," Aerith said with a laugh. "He's here. I'll-."

A noise from the other room startled all three.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"If I find this King…he'll help me find my friends?"

"I'm sure of it." Said Yuffie.

Sora looked down at the weapon in his hands. At first glance it was kind of hard to believe it was so important. But from what they said, it meant he could figure out what the reason behind all this was and… find his friends. He gripped it in his right hand and stood up.

"I'll do it."

"Good. Before we go, you should test it. You see that chest over there? The manager said the key has been lost for years and whoever manages to open it can keep its contents. The Keyblade is supposed to be able to open nearly any lock in any world. There are bound to be exceptions, but you'll see fir yourself. Try it out."

Sora walked toward the chest. 'But that keyhole's so small… And how exactly can a sword-.'

As he raised the Keyblade and pointed, a small beam of light shot from it at the opening on the chest. A loud click came and the light vanished. When Sora walked over to the chest it opened easily.

"Wow…" Inside was a small, glowing, green bottle. Sora's arm tingled as a little dot escaped and hit his wrist, getting rid of all the left over pain from his earlier battle.

"That's a potion," said Yuffie. "It can heal your injuries and pain. Cure fatigue and so on. Just breaking it near you can help, but it's most effective if you drink it. It won't ever expire either! Moogles are great, huh?"

"Moo-wah?"

A loud 'poof' sounded in the room followed with the clank of armor; interrupting Yuffie's reply. It was-

"A Heartless!"

"Yuffie! Move!" She quickly followed Leon's advice and ran though the door. Leon summoned the Gunblade and slashed through it three times. It disappeared, a tiny light floating up from the spot it had been standing.

"Alright Sora, it looks like they've found you again. Don't bother much with the small ones. Find the leader!" Leon leaped through the window and headed for another district

"...They're all insane." Sora said with a sigh as he opened the door leading to the alley and jumped down, getting ready to fight.

--------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------

Riku sat on the bed in his room, toying with a Shadow. He was throwing small bits of darkness around, watching it chase them around the room.

'Finally, I'm away from that place. There's nothing to hold me back...now that I have the Darkness,' he thought. His sword appeared next to him and he used it to destroy the Shadow. "And I can do as I please.'

He stood, pacing the length of the room. Ever since he'd come here, he'd been forgetting things. Riku no longer knew the name of 'that place.' All he remembered was the call that Darkness sent out to him, and these vague faces...... He shook his head. Those thoughts always seemed to make it hurt. Soon, he tired of pacing and headed to the door. He opened it, only to be met with the red-haired girl.

"Riku, come down to the hall. Lady Maleficent wishes to see you." Without even waiting for a reply, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the Great Hall.

This girl was so annoying! He didn't understand why she clinged to him so much. To top it off she would always take every excuse to drone on and on about the stupidest things.

"So, what'd you eat today?"

Cue Droning.

"..."

Really? Must've been good," Kairi said sarcastically. "You know, you might actually get along with people here if you talked. Gosh, _Sachiko's _more fun to be around."

'Miki.' The sudden thought made him falter in his steps on the way to the lifts. Why did it mean something?

"Or even that weirdo Ume. Hmpf. She talked like she had seaweed for brains."

The faces he'd dreamed of so much were bugging him again; silently demanding that he remember.

"But it doesn't matter. They're gone now. Hopefully far away from-," The angry look on her face dissipated and she heaved a sigh before speaking again. "Away from Sora."

"So...ra?"

...Sora!

The faces in his head suddenly became clear as he fell to the floor from pain. Voices, memories, feelings- all hit him at once. He knew these people. Sora...since they were kids...Miki came not long after...that red-head...Kairi...he knew her...and Ume...new...it surprised him anyone so different- anyone at all had come from another world to the Island...Destiny!

"My...friends..."

The Darkness weakened with a strange pang in his chest and he tried to hold on to it. It seemed like the only thing that made any sense with his mind's whirling state. Just before he lost it a surge of power hit him and he passed out.

"Riku!" Kairi knelt down and checked his heartbeat. It was normal. "Thank goodness."

'You're the only one left- I can't let you-.' Her thought was cut off by a nearby voice.

"Now, now little one. You shouldn't upset him so. I still need him."

Kairi gasped. This man always sent a chill through her. Always standing in the shadows... you'd think he were apart of them. She knew nothing of his appearance save the yellow eyes.

"Sorry master." she said, bowing her head. Kairi would never say so, but she also hated him. No matter how he spoke to her it was patronizing...condescending...it felt like she was being laughed at. Her heart- well, what was left of it- constantly hurt around them and sometimes away. Every time she looked at him, what she had lost... it didn't equal what she had gotten. But regardless, it's not like she could go back.

"Don't worry. As long as you don't make him remember, I have no qualm with you. Be a good girl now and take him to his room." The eyes vanished.

"...Yes." she replied as she opened the portal and left.

Nepenthe stayed behind the pillar a moment longer before turning around and walking away.

'Looks like there's more to these people than I thought. I should see them after my mission..."

--------------------------------------------------------|---------------------------------------------------

Ume and Miki slowly looked up. The thing she'd tripped on was a tail. A cat's tail. Specifically a very large tiger's _tail_.

"Miki?" Ume said as she slowly backed away from the rudely awakened animal.

"Y- yeah?"

"This could be a good time to- RUN!"

The girls turned on their heels and ran as fast as possible. The roaring creature leaped and pounced; each move bringing him closer to his midday meal. They jumped over a rotten log, and fell straight into a well-hidden hole. When the two opened their eyes, they were once again in a portal.

"Ume?"

"Uh-huh?"

"Whatever you do, don't look down."

"Why?" She said with a glance down. Ume brought her head right back up. "Are those..."

"Yeah."

"Ah. Ok. I think I'll knock myself unconscious now. Save the Heartless the trouble."

"Don't leave me here!"

-"Ume!"- Naozumi shouted.

-'Oh what is it _now_?"

-"This place is unstable! That hole you fell into was their gateway to the heart of that world! You have to get out of here."-

-'How?'-

-"I'm going to run my power through you to make a temporary gate. Get your weapon ready."-

-'Wait, wait, wait. You can do that? Why didn't you tell us earlier,'- she said irritated. Ume called and rose up the Suei.

-"Doing this damages your body. You don't have the magical ability, capacity, or physical strength and endurance to handle it. You'll be out of it for a while, even if you're at full strength. If you were any weaker, you'd die. The fatigue won't set in for a little while, but I can promise it'll hit hard."-

-'Alright, fine. Let's just do this!'-

"Miki, float to the side a bit. Nao is using me to open a portal."

-"Here goes."-

"But... Nina's using me."

"What?" Nao and Ume thought in unison.

The beams of power simultaneously shot out through their weapons and collided at one spot, sending out rippling waves of color. With every new wave, a new portal opened up. Not long after the final one opened, Miki and Ume felt tugs to the other sides of each.

-"Oh I'm going to kill Nina!"-

"Ume, quick! Grab my hand!" Miki shouted. The portals were fading away as the two strongest ones absorbed the power of the other windows.

Ume reached out and hesitated. A glint of silver had caught her eyes. In the midst of the Heartless, it shone as a figure began to emerge out of the wave. Silver hair...

"Ri...Riku?"

The tugs suddenly got stronger, and the girls were flung away to separate portals. Once they disappeared through them, the gateways closed without a trace.

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Kumiku: Was it ok? The beginning was kind of tough to figure out so it probably is off. (Could never figure out just how to start this. Kept losing all my ideas. ;.; I've written this chapter like- 26 different ways.) But, at least it's done. While I was gone, I got to finalize a few designs, so now I have weapons for Ume and a future chara's design. They'll soon be upped to my dA, which is under the same name as this, in the scraps section. Miki's designs I'm still working on. Ah, Heartless-girl, if you read this still, is there a certain way you want things to look? Is her personality off? I came up with names of Miki's weapons and such, plus a few things that'll happen to her/them in the future. If you want something changed or specifically done, then I'll see what I can do, otherwise I'll take the full creative freedom and go on. (Almost done with outfits!)

Ah, that reminds me, I'm opening a new quizilla account for some votes on some worlds (too many Disney movies to choose from .) and a few other things. I'll put it up on my profile k? Nyaa, I think the next story I work with will be one of the D. ones. I've finished vol.10 so far and plan on checking the stores for more. If I can't think of something I'll just keep writing this in the meantime. BTW, at the end of Through His Eyes I'll be doing my name change. I just hope no one else picks it before I switch. ^^; (The quizilla will be under the new name.)

Oh, and speaking of names, I got a question about Ume's. I know I said it meant sea, but it's come to my attention that was a result of very bad listening. (I thought they said UME but in reality it was UMI. Go figure.^^; ) I noticed this a couple years back but I really like the name Ume.^^' So, I made the official backstory this: When Ume was born, her mother gave her the name 'Umi,' which meant sea in her first home's language. An intern who had earlier tripped and fell on a morphine needle stumbled in drowsily and was given the task of writing it on the official document. But, as there was an immense party hosted by her parent's friends for the whole area to celebrate, they didn't get to check how it was spelled until a week later. (It was an insanely long party; practically a Mardi Gras for the town. Without all the excess drinking and such that is often associated with the term.) Anywhos, when they went to check they saw instead of 'umi' was 'ume' in rather poor handwriting. Her mum and dad thought it was cute and decided to keep it. Shortly after, they patented the word as meaning 'sea' in a sub-dialect. And that, dear reader is the story of Ume's name.

As for Kairi's name, my kanji studies (and a bio read up) have told me that Kairi's name most definitely can mean 'sea/ocean' yadda yadda. While I really would like to keep as true as possible to the original plotline of the game, I need to switch this a bit. Yes, reading her name part by part ('海/Kai') can mean 'sea.' Her name as a whole however, and you can look it up, means 'separation.' Since the latter has recently come to my attention as a very important part of the future sequel, (possibly somewhere in this), in KHR, it will stay meaning 'separation.'

Well, till I write again, (and no, it most definitely will not be years), ピース！！！ｗｗｗ


	7. in separation

Quick guide:

- - . - - = new scene/PoV etc.

-.-.-.-.- = flashback

The Story Thus Far (If you already read the others, just skip down a bit.):

Sora, a young islander has been plagued with strange dreams. The most recent involved a battle, which led him to being transported to another world. There, he met Ume, a citizen of Re'almia with the same wish to travel as Sora and his friends. Sora falls asleep once more and ends up back on his Island just before Ume's world falls to an old enemy. Sora's friend Kairi finds him on the beach and shortly after Riku and Sachiko(Miki) find them.

Ume appears on his island a bit later and for about week they all get to know each other. Then, a terrible storm sweeps across Sora's world and one after another his friends disappear, seemingly by the work of the cloaked figure that Kairi met by the Secret Place. The Heartless consume his world. Sora wakes up in Traverse Town and accepts his duty as Master of the Keyblade.

Miki and Ume awake in a world where they meet Naozumi and Nina, two odd beings that seem to be a part of them who grant them their weapons and power. They have just separated into different worlds through a portal incident.

Riku, it seems, is currently with Kairi, working with the Heartless and ones who took their world. Riku, however, is slowly forgetting his connection to her and the others. Kairi is still bitter and as such determined to master darkness for some sort of satisfaction and perhaps for her wish to come true. Recently, she seems to be having a bit of regret, accompanied with the slow loss of her ability to move.

A new player, Nepenthe, has emerged as well…

Kumiku: Hello hello~! That wasn't terribly long, right?

Riku: :glare:

Kumiku: Eep. Ah- hehe... Um…. Here's the story? Full version of Chapter 7. (New site up by the way. [See Profile.])

Kingdom Hearts:Rewritten

Chapter 7 - …in separation

Blue eyes…a friendly voice…a bashful smile…. Gone.

Riku couldn't remember what he'd dreamt anymore. Those few minutes one spends reminiscing and clutching tightly to a fading dream had past. He was being called again.

He sat up and rubbed at his forehead wishing they'd find a better way to communicate than this annoying pulsing in his head. When Riku finally stood up from the bed, he almost tripped. Something was in the w- the redhead? She moved somewhat in her sleep, not seeming to notice him.

'What is she doing in here?'

It was odd enough to find her in his room (near his bed nonetheless), but to find her twice? Before he'd been sent on his last mission, she'd been asleep standing by his door. But still, privacy aside, he was beginning to get curious. Each and every time he'd seen her nowadays, here eyes were red and puffy. They were even beginning to change color to a faint blue-ish rather than the violet he'd gotten used to. He knew nothing about her other than the fact she'd been here longer, and nothing else aside from her not being able to control 'darkness'- not even her name. Why was she sad…? Why was she even here…?

- - . - -

Kairi was dreaming. Times like these were all she could call her own now. The constant subject however, left a bit to be desired. Always- always she saw that island. Always the dream began with her earliest memories. The boy who had first seen her floating in the water and his friends who went to get the grown-ups. He was so friendly…

"Sora…"

Then it was that girl. They'd almost been friends in the beginning. Until they realized that they wanted the same thing that is. Then the other boy… At first he seemed to be her biggest rival. Most of all, he was strange and aloof to anyone other than _him_ and that girl. Even though he was quiet, it wasn't that he didn't communicate….just not always in words.

Then that day she saw the green-eyed boy go into a cave and hid outside it. She had never noticed it before. He seemed different, when he came out of it. So she went into the place alone. A strange person…a new power. After this they stated to leave and shun her. The further they went, the more often she visited the cold figure in the cave.

Her. The new girl. Her appearance was the last sign that everything would change. The figure kept telling her to prepare, that the world would be consumed. She felt scared, and as soon as the figure opened his eyes, she wanted to run. It was only _him_ that warmed the chill running through her. She asked him to leave with her but….

'As if he ever would. What was I thinking?'

_And it was all because of her._

'What?'

_It's her isn't it? _She's_ the one who drove the wedge between you and him. She's the one who held him back. The others were more than willing to help her too._

'That's not…right..?'

Why do you defend them? You know it's the truth. Don't deny it… You hate them. And more importantly, you should. They took him from you, and wouldn't let go. Why, don't you want your revenge?

'…'

It's not out of reach. Just let your heart go.

'How can I, if I alre-.'

Don't think. Release it…to us.

The clouds of purple and black smoke dancing behind her eyes vanished when the light hit her. Blue was replaced with green when they opened.

"Riku?"

"…what are you doing here?"

Where?

"Oh!" Kairi quickly realized what had happened. Her recent nightmares of Riku leaving and being hurt by _him_ had often led her to sleepwalk to his room. She must have ended up inside it this time. "I was told to… take care of you. I did not mean to fall asleep."

She stood up slowly. For some reason, it was getting harder and harder for her body to move. She was never able to properly use Darkness and definitely couldn't manipulate its power to support her. Absent mindedly, she reached up over the spot on her chest that felt so empty. If this continued, they might decide that she could not be used. Kairi's thoughts slowed and only one stood out: They had never mentioned why she has needed. Only promised that she would get what she wanted, and she had never told them what it was. Why did they want her?

"I'm fine." He said, with a blank look on his face.

She nodded and started towards the exit. "Yeah, I know. I'll just be leaving now."

Kairi was about to open the door when Riku spoke once more.

"Who are you?"

She smiled without looking at him. "I'm Kairi."

The door to his room opened and closed leaving only one inside.

- - . - -

"So."

Kairi turned away from the door to face the voice that had just spoken. It was… Who was she again?

"Who are you?"

"Nepenthe. I live here. We spoke when you first came her."

-.-.-.-.-

When Kairi arrived at the castle, she felt strange. It seemed so… familiar. But then, she remembered her purpose. She followed the directions to the front gate and entered the lobby. There, she spotted four black, translucent orbs floating in the air. The first contained a blond girl in a blue gown. The second had a black-haired girl in a green outfit. The third held another blond woman in a dress that was made up of different shades of pink. The final one had Riku.

She blinked, surprised. Why would he be here? Wasn't he with all the others? Did he come to help h-. No. That last one couldn't be it. It didn't matter though. She'd find out eventually.

According to what the Master of this place had said, the three girls were to be taken through a hall and placed into pods for something. Then, the person in the last bubble needed a room. Kairi walked up and focused her thoughts. You had to be careful when using Darkness. If you didn't, you'd end up like all the Heartless…or worse. With it, she lowered the orbs and started with the girl in blue. She returned to the lobby for the next one and a shadow dropped from the ceiling with an immense speed and landed in front of her. Even with all the things Kairi had seen, this still scared the heck out of her.

"Ahhh!"

The shadow stood up, turning out to not be a shadow after all. It was a girl. She looked at Kairi with a sort of indifference in her eyes and spoke with the same kind of tone. "If you're going to be working with us, you might want to toughen up. I'm sure you have yet to see the Heartless in the lab."

At first Kairi was still in shock, but once she recovered, she was absolutely ticked.

"Maybe if people didn't _drop from out of nowhere_ on others who are just a bit new to this kind of thing, said others wouldn't get so scared." She turned her back and brought down the other three pods from midair. She took the one with Riku and began to carry it upstairs towards the lifts that went to the bedrooms.

"I will attend to the last two. I suggest you rest. You are likely to have a mission tomorrow and we don't sleep much here."

"Fine." She grumbled. After she had put Riku in a room, she would pick her own and sleep. She really didn't feel like running into that girl again.

-.-.-.-.-

"I remember you." The old irritation was starting to rise.

"I apologize. I only meant to give you some advice because you were new. If that bugged you.."

Kairi sighed. Making enemies here too would be a bad idea, she was sure. "No. I was just a little touchy. A lot had happened. It's no problem."

"As I thought."

She was expecting that?!

"That wasn't the only reason I'm here, however." Nepenthe started to walk away. She stopped after several steps and turned to Kairi, waiting.

'She expects me to follow her? What kind of…' Kairi followed suit anyway and Nepenthe continued to walk again. While Kairi was still mumbling under her breath, Nepenthe spoke again.

"I'm curious, why are you here? You don't seem at all like the usual people who come here."

"I-… There was…. Something I couldn't do on my own. The Master here-"

"Ansem."

"What?"

"He calls himself Ansem. You only have to use 'master' when he's around."

"Ansem then… he sort of promised I would get what I wanted."

"…I see. Then I understand you a bit…" Nepenthe turned and whispered under her breath. "Chiiki…come."

At her call, a sword appeared. It was so odd looking. The hilt was slim, but had a double-headed dragon as it's shape. They were silver. There was also a jewel of some sort just before the blade that was set in a gold holder. One side was blue and the other was silver; yet the silver side of the actual blade looked like it shifted colors. It just shimmered. The two and a half foot blade's shape was straight at first glance, but a closer look showed that it had a slight 'lightning bolt' look to it. Nepenthe touched a finger to the blade and if Kairi wasn't mistaken, it shivered.

"What are you doing?" Kairi asked warily.

"I'm going to train you. There's a 'balcony' higher up that we can use, and a large hall nearby it."

She just stared, surprised. How could this person, who she practically just met, suddenly say she was going to _train_ her? Kairi hadn't asked for it, and a reason just didn't come to mind. Absolutely none of these people had even acted as if they cared enough to tell her how to use the powers Ansem had just thrown at her back at the island. And now… This was so…strange. Nepenthe looked at her blankly.

"What are you staring for?"

"Why…why are you helping me?"

Nepenthe looked as if she were about to sigh. "Because, we work together now. You don't look like any of the idiots here, but you don't seem all that smart either."

Kairi blushed in indignation.

"So I figure that you don't know how to use your power. If you aren't careful with it or your emotions, it will completely consume you and you'll end up worse off than the Heartless. I doubt you or your stalkee deserve that."

Stalkee? "Wha- I'm not stalking him!"

Nepenthe was silent. Kairi felt exhausted all of a sudden, not to mention a little bugged, but what kind of reason was that to look a gift horse in the mouth? She sighed. "Um… thanks…"

Nepenthe was already walking away. "You're welcome I suppose. Hurry, before we get called out again."

Kairi's mouth twitched into a frown. But, slowly, it became a small smile. Someone was helping her here. They hadn't brushed her off or given her a cold stare. She'd spoken to someone, well; someone to her, and an actual conversation had followed. Maybe… Was she making a friend? At that thought, she hurried to catch up.

- - . - -

Sora couldn't believe it. He had just defeated a giant Heartless with the help of two oversized _talking_ _animals_ with clothes on. Who, by the way were very easygoing and extremely tempermental in turn. He had just been given more munny than he'd seen in his entire 15 years of life and most of it fell out of the heartless he'd fought. He had learned a new skill and was now on his way to another world, in a ship made of rubber. With said animals. How in the heck had this happened?

"Ahyuck," That, would be Goofy. "Which path do ya think we should pick? (1)

"It's not _we_, it's _me_." Donald, of course. "I'm flying this thing!"

Sora got irritated. How was it that this duck got on his nerves so much? "Hey! That's unfair! If anything I should pick it. I have the keyblade! I say right."

"Left!"

"Right!"

The fight might have continued if Goofy hadn't closed his eyes and pressed a button, hoping to stop them. The ship spiraled out of control and at the panicked press of another button, shot off to the left path.

- - . - -

"Just how many people are going to appear today?" said someone in an annoyed tone.

"Le_on_. Could you try and cheer up for once? Like this: 'Oooh, a new person! I wonder what mysteries they can reveal to us!' Okay?"

"Yuffie-."

"Ah, guys, relax? I think we should take her to the room? She looks like she's been through a lot."

Through her half-lidded eyes, Miki could just make out a figure in pink calming the other two down. But, right now her body hurt too much for her to care. The sound of water from what must have been a nearby fountain was really soothing. She closed them again.

- - . - -

Miki woke up in a bed. For a moment, she thought everything that had just happened was only a dream, and that when she sat up, she'd be in her room with another day of raft building to look forward to. Of course, she was wrong. She was actually in a large room, with a table that had an open chest on it in the center, and a clock above a door. There were three entrances. Miki sighed, shook her head, and laid herself back down. There was no point in being awake right now. If she had any experiences with the post-storm world she was in, there would only be trouble when she got up completely. Why not rest a bit longer…

"Is she up yet Aerith?"

Not if you stop talking…

"I don't think so. It looks like she's sleeping."

Yes. Please go.

"It's been three days! Leon's ticked that we have to keep paying for a room for someone we don't even know. I told him we're doing it out of the kindness of our hearts but he just-"

Three days?

"I've been out that long?!"

"Oh! You are awake. Well, yes. We found you in the first district. You're in Traverse Town. My name is Aerith."

"_And_ you're very blue. I'm the Great Ninja Yuffie! At your service." Yuffie added with a bow.

"Thank you for taking care of me. My name is Sachiko. My friends call me Miki. Feel free to as well."

"Miki, huh? Wasn't Cid asking us about someone with that name?"

"I think…. Leon's on his way here with Cid. I invited him for lunch in case Miki woke up hungry.

Now that she thought about it, it had to be at least four or five days since her last meal. She touched her hand to her stomach. Not long after, it let out a loud growl. Yuffie laughed.

"Good call."

A knock on the door alerted them to the boys' arrival. Yuffie hopped up and let them in. The brown haired one was greeted by her as 'Squall', but he quickly corrected the ninja with 'Leon'. The other, blond one must have been Cid. He looked at her and sat his bags down.

"Yep. Your name wouldn't happen ta be Miki, eh?"

"Er, yes…?"

"Do you know a Sora?"

She shot up out of the bed, forgetting her hunger for a moment. "He's here! Really?"

"No. You just missed him." Leon stated simply.

Aerith spoke next. "I'm sorry. You came here right after he left. He's headed to help-… Well, I think it'd be best to start from the beginning."

Half an hour later, Aerith had finished the story.

"So you're saying Sora's some sort of Hero chosen by a giant key to save the _worlds_ from Darkness? And he's looking for a king? In a ship made of rubber? With two talking animals? …he's hiding in the next room, isn't he?"

"Nope, it's all true." Said Yuffie.

"Ugh!" Miki buried her face in the pillow. Her next words were muffled. "Why does this kind of stuff have to happen?"

"Them's the works kid." Cid said, taking another bite of the sandwiches they'd all been eating earlier. "Once that Darkness is gone, we can all go back home. Until then, I'd expect the worst."

"I just have to follow him right? Then I can help him? How do I leave this place?"

"With a ship." Said Cid.

"How do I get one of those."

"Actually, the only ones with a working Gummy left with Sora."

Miki fell out of the bed.

"Ah, I'm sure that someone here has something. If you look around a bit, you might run into someone. We'll help if you want." Aerith said quickly.

"Thank you." Miki stood up again and brushed herself off. "Um, before that, can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead." was Leon's reply.

"Where's the shower? If what you said is right, it's almost been a week since I bathed."

Aerith giggled, Yuffie laughed, Cid chuckled, and Leon rolled his eyes. Ooh, was that a smile?

"Follow me kay? I, the Great Tracking Ninja Yuffie, will show you the way!"

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1: Okay, I am most definitely not sure I can make Goofy sound like Goofy. Or Donald like Donald for that matter. It's kinda strange.

Geesh, Kairi had the longest part in this one. I'm kinda surprised. I never expected to try to explore her character so much. Go figure. No part for Ume this time. I know where she is right now but… didn't feel like writing it.^^; The next part updates in the next week or so. Depends on when I next head to the computer lab. Probably Monday? If not Saturday that is. (Promised a friend I'd help them that day, I don't know how long they'll need me.) Anywhos, see you then.^^

Kumiku-chan: *feels like a loser cause she didn't see her review* Thanks for being my first return reader Heartless-Girl!^^ You are ultra cool. 8D So many people have stopped writing though! ;.; *was suprised* If you start up again, tell~~ me~~~ k?


	8. Chapter 8

Quick guide:

- - . - - = new scene/PoV etc.

-.-.-.-.- = flashback/dream

**The Story Thus Far**:

Sora, a young islander has been plagued with strange dreams. The most recent involved a battle, which led him to being transported to another world. There, he met Ume, a citizen of Re'almia with the same wish to travel as Sora and his friends. Sora falls asleep once more and ends up back on his Island just before Ume's world falls to an old enemy. Sora's friend Kairi finds him on the beach and shortly after Riku and Sachiko(Miki) arrive on scene.

Ume appears on his island a bit later and for about week they all get to know each other. Then, a terrible storm sweeps across Sora's world and one after another his friends disappear, seemingly by the work of the cloaked figure that Kairi met by the Secret Place. The Heartless consume his world. Sora wakes up in Traverse Town and accepts his duty as Master of the Keyblade.

Now, Miki is in Traverse Town, having gotten there not long after Sora left. She's searching for a working Gummy Ship to take her to find him. Nepenthe has begun to train Kairi out of curiosity and some sense of kindness. Riku is still out of it and has apparently forgotten everything previous to his arrival at Hollow Bastion. Ume is yet to be seen…

(Chapter 7 full is up)

**Disclaimer:** Kingdom Hearts pwns. So, the owner of it must pwn too. As I do not pwn, I don't see how I could own it. So, send your love to Squeenix please.^^

Kingdom Hearts:Rewritten

Chapter 8

"..Left or Right? Right or Left? Where to go and what to do?"

"Oh, oh Mr. Cat~, would you please just tell me where to go! I'm very lost and now I'm confused! This is insane!"

"Insane? What is sanity anyway? Hmm… I smell biscuits. The Queen's game must be on again. A Queen should know her land well. Ho ho ho~. Right is always Right…"

"Right? Oh, thank you Mr. Cat!"

The sound of footsteps hurried by Ume's head.

"And… left, is always left. Doesn't the Griffin live that way?" (1)

Ume shook her head and stood. She tried to take a step but fell down. Her body was so weak… Why, oh why did she agree to let Nao lend her that power?

'Nao?'

Silence. When Ume tried to go inside her own mind, she found she couldn't. She really _was_ tired. She rolled onto her back and set out to figure out where she was.

There were trees all around her as well as giant flow- Giant flowers? What kind of world was she in now? The grass was really tall and… someone just threw a fruit at her head. With an effort, Ume sat up, and lifted it off the ground. After taking a bite, she felt much better. However, once she finished it, she realized just how hungry she was.

"How long have I been out? …Wait a minute… who threw this fruit and why did I just eat it off the ground?"

"Four days. In your time that is."

A pair of leering eyes appeared out of thin air. Followed by a striped tale, ears, a body, paws, a face, and lastly a grinning mouth. This must be that Mr. Cat that girl was talking to earlier. Well, Ume had just met an almost imaginary person who lived in her head, could apparently converse with other people, and just teleported her who knows where. Why should a _talking cat_ that could _appear at will_ in various stages seem _strange_? Really now, that was just silly.

"I thought a meal would do you good. Ah, food…. I haven't eaten in quite some time… I wonder what is keeping that Walrus from bringing those delicious mussels I've heard so much about." The cat picked up his tale and began to twirl it absentmindedly. "The Cheshire Cat holds true to his promises, as rare as they are, but only when the other party has completed their side of the bargain."

Ume was about to ask who the Walrus was for the sake of conversation when she got a strange feeling in her stomach. "Oh!"

She blinked, and when she opened her eyes she was…shorter.

"What the- How did I- Did you-?"

"Shrink you? No. That would be the potion~. When you first came to this Wondrous land- this…Wonderland if you may, _and_ you may, you were very tired. From my point of view that is. You drank the shrinking drink- half in a single gulp. You've been shrinking and growing since. But, that's probably because of the second drink on the table you took as well."

"And what did that do?"

"Why, make you grow of course!"

"… I guess that makes sense."

"But with that fruit, you should go back to normal. If this normal is normal after all."

Such a strange animal. "Well, how do I grow big again?"

"Ask the flowers." With that, the Cheshire Cat faded away.

Ume stood up and stretched a moment before walking straight ahead. When she passed over the spot the he had been in, a large yowl sounded.

"Ah!" The cat's now rumpled tail appeared with his face in tow. "I'm sorry! I didn't see you."

"Invisible is not invulnerable…" The cat didn't stop grinning for a moment, but it's eyes were all the warning needed. Ume backed away. A wise choice.

"I-I'll be more careful next time?" she said, sweatdropping a bit.

"Let us hope there isn't one." The cat disappeared again. Ume let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding. That was one scary animal. 'I'd rather face a tiger…'

She turned to the flowers and stood there for a moment. 'How am I supposed to ask flowers? They don't-…. Oh, yeah, everything talks here.'

"Um, Flowers? Can you make me big so I can go?"

-'Give me a potion'- spoke a fluttery voice. The orange flower directly in front of her shook its leaves. –'And I will help.'-

Where was she supposed to find a potion?

-'Ah, here they come again. Close your petals friends~…'-

A familiar sound hit her ears, and Ume saw the Heartless. They looked different. They were changing… and that can_not_ be a good sign.

- - . - -

"How many different kinds of those things are there?"

Kairi and Nepenthe had just left the practice room for the third time that week. On their way to the kitchen to choose from the surprisingly small amount of food (considering all those that seemed to live there), they had encountered a heartless wandering the halls. Typically, they never came unless summoned. Nepenthe looked it over.

"…I don't even know anymore. They're always experimenting higher upstairs. Sometimes Ansem will disappear for weeks only to appear with three or so more, fighting each other. Like he was testing them." The heartless shook violently. It's form twisted and dissipated. "Guess it was unstable."

Kairi gave a shiver. These people were really starting to creep her out. Ansem she had seen more frequently in the halls mumbling to himself, and the looks both he and the weird dragon lady kept giving Riku were absolutely disturbing. Friends or not before, what ever they had in store for him, she didn't want to let happen.

"Hey, Pen?"

- - . - -

Okay, _now_ she was annoyed. The red head…Kairi…had taken up to calling her by this new nickname a day or so ago. Normally, nothing bothered Nepenthe, but this… she was not a writing instrument!

"…must you really say that?"

"Say what?"

"…Pen."

"Oh, that? But, your name is really long. That's easier, isn't it?"

"…I guess. But really, 'Pen'?"

"What else would it be. '_The_?' I like Pen. If it makes you feel better, you can call me…Kai."

"…I'll stick with Kairi." She couldn't help but twitch her eye.

"Suit yourself. Anyway, I wanted to thank you."

Thank? Nepenthe was definitely not used to that.

"You've been helping me a lot, and it's easier to control the heartless now. I can even make a portal!" Kairi scratched the back of her head, embarrassed. "Even if it doesn't last very long, or go very far. So," She paused to bow for a moment. "Thank you very much!"

"You're welcome, so would you mind not bowing? It's weird."

Kairi just laughed. Pen kept walking, slightly off-put. The first time she had said 'thanks', she could dismiss it. She was new. Because in her opinion, she didn't really deserve to be thanked or anything like that. Not after… But if it kept that girl quiet… well, whatever. Her thoughts soon turned to the other. That boy…. Riku, from what she had heard from Kairi- she had yet to really speak to. He was so quiet… And more often than not he had such a zoned out look in his eyes. She didn't know him at all, but she could tell her was changing. Right now, it was as if he had no emotion.

Maybe… Was Ansem planning to do something to him? For whatever personality he had to have had earlier to be wiped out like this. So strange. She wanted to help him, and that was even more strange. The times she had passed him, her weapon had pulled her towards him. Chiiki never acted up, not even when she had first… acquired it. There had to be a lot more to him than she currently knew.

A tugging on her sleeve alerted her to Kairi and the fact that they'd gotten to the cafeteria. She'd worry over him later. For now… Did they have any more noodles?

- - . - -

"Ugh…"

Miki sighed and slumped on a wall. She had been through every district a billion times, and in not a one could she find _anyone_ with a working Gummi Ship. It'd only been a day but... she was rather worried. Riku could probably take care of himself, but Ume? She seemed somewhat klutzy every now and then, not to mention when ever Miki spotted her alone, she was daydreaming. Sora too... goodness knows what kind of trouble he's in. He had probably tripped head first into a ditch or something. He was absolutely hopeless, but regardless, she still-.

'Shoot, did I just make myself sad?' She sighed. ' I miss all of them…'

_Absence makes the Heart grow fonder, ne?_

"Huh?"

No one spoke out to her question.

"geez… Where the heck am I supposed to go?!"

Miki's weapon popped into existence and began to shake. She lost her grip and it hovered for a moment.

"Wha-…?"

Suddenly, the flower on it flipped and pointed up. It shot up onto the balcony and froze for a moment.

-'It wants you to follow.'-

'_Nina_?'

-'Yep!'- she yawned. –'I felt some energy from it and it woke me. Long time no see!'- she said happily. While Miki was glad to have some company, she was somewhat disappointed for it to be Nina.

-'Hey! I'm hurt…'-

Miki smiled and looked up to the Hotel. She jumped up but couldn't get off the ground more than half a foot. She frowned.

-'Maybe we should've taught you guys some stuff, that was kind of pathetic.'-

'And whose fault is that?'

-'Meh. Here's what you gotta do. If you focus your mind, and imagine power going into your legs and feet, you'll be able to jump much higher than a normal person. Try it.'-

She did. The first two tries were pretty bad, but on her third, she almost got the side of the balcony.

-'Good! Now, there's something else you can do. The maximum for most is the double jump. Do the same thing as last time, but now, imagine the air around you being something solid. The pressure und your feet will change okay? Then, let yourself jump off this with momentum from your first one, and flip to gain a bit more height. Make sure you grab the side of the balcony fast cause you'll fall like a rock when you finish the double jump.'-

This time, Miki attempted her double jump. It went perfectly and she grabbed the side of the balcony and pulled herself up. "I did it!"

-'Congrats! You have officially gained a fun point.'

Miki smiled and went to the door. Lilium hovered in front of it and then disappeared inside. She reached out to open the door and had an afterthought: She could've just walked around and taken the stairs!

-'And miss out on a new trick? Consider your fun point deducted.'-

Miki rolled her eyes and walked inside. She followed the wand to the hallway and down the hall. It went to one of the regular doors and made a gesture. Following it, Miki knocked on the door. A series of crashes and random noises came until a very annoyed looking girl appeared.

"Hold on." Said the dark haired girl. She turned back into the room. "Kurai! If you don't stop with this tantrum I swear to the Lifestream itself I _will_ HURT YOU."

"I want CANDY! And that mean manager won't stop bothering about the T.V. noise. It is _not loud_." A voice whined. "Plus he said the pink in my hair was too bright." She threw something at the wall.

"That's it."

After an 'Eep!' there was a dull thud and the black haired girl looked considerably more relaxed when she came back to the door. "I'm sorry about that. My friend is rather…strange.

"Um… don't worry. I don't mind… Er, so, my name is Sachiko."

"My name is Akai. The crazy one is Kurai. Can I help you?"

'Yes. You see I just teleported from another world. My magical weapon started talking and led me to you. Do you have a Gummi Ship I can borrow?'

-'I think that sounds perfect.'-

'…'

"Yeah… um, you see… I've lost my friends. I met some people who told me how to find them but… I need a ship. I've been searching all over town for someone who had one or knew where to find one who would be willing to help me…"

"That's perfect! I've been looking for an extra crew member. It's kind of hard to fly a ship with Kurai and not get distracted. If you don't mind keeping an eye on her…"

"Oh! It's no problem!"

"Great! Give us a day to get supplies okay? Meet us in the town café tomorrow and we'll leave around 10:00 a.m.?"

"Alright. Thanks!"

"Don't worry. See you tomorrow Sachiko."

"Oh, please call me Miki. Bye."

After Akai closed the door, you could hear her shout. "I- if you started biting the kunai again I will leave you tied up and in that closet until you turn to goo!"

-'That's worth ten fun points! It sounds like this is gonna be good!'-

- - . - -

Sora thought he'd been a nice guy throughout his life. He'd never stolen anything….well, expect Riku's pants that one day after their 5th race. Heh, he couldn't get out of the water for an hour till Miki felt bad long enough to stop laugh- wait, off topic. Anyway, he'd never done anything that bad. So why, why was he running through a jungle camp being chased by evil monkeys?

"Wahhhhhh!"

"Yah-hahahahooey!"

"Kyaaa!" Sora got a weird look from Donald and Goofy when he yelled. What? Can't a guy be freaked out?

Jane, that nice lady who worked here, had told them that all her film had been taken by the heartless. Tarzan was trying to talk to his family about something that had happened with the meanie Clayton. Apparently he kept crossing borders that he shouldn't. Regardless, the moment they left the tent, they were attacked. They'd gotten half the missing film, but the attacks wouldn't stop!

A blue monkey practically flew at Sora's head so he ducked, alone to fall to the attack of the pink monkeys. How the heck did they make heartless monkeys anyway?

"Thunder!"

At Donald's yell, Sora and Goofy took cover under their weapons. Donald still couldn't shield them enough to stop the attacks from hitting them. But, luckily, the Heartless disappeared. After ten more minutes of searching they found the remaining slides and headed inside.

"Terrific!" Jane said happily. "Now, let's have a looksie at them, ok?"

Jane began flipping through the slides. At the shake of both Tarzan and Sora's heads, she would turn to the next one. After about six, the slide that came up… There was a weird feeling in Sora's chest, like… bubbles or…a jump….something strange. As he ran his eyes over the image and castle within it…something inside him felt drawn. He couldn't help but think it familiar…

"Do you recognize it? Are your friends here? Tarzan? Did you see this place before?"

Sora hadn't noticed he was walking towards the screen until Jane spoke. Tarzan grunted and shook his head. Sora slowly shook his too, and they moved on. By the end, not a single picture was related to what Tarzan had said.

"Then I guess… we'll just keep searching." He turned to Donald and Goofy. "You guys found that weird Gummi block right? Maybe your King is here, and he can help me too right? While Chip and Dale fix the ship we can keep looking around this jungle."

Goofy 'ahyuck-ed' and patted Sora on the shoulder. "That's the spirit!"

Donald grumbled, then agreed with Sora's plan. After thanking Jane and Tarzan they synchronized with that healing green circle thing and headed out.

- - . - -

Miki arrived at the café around 9:30. She had bid farewell to the four who had helped her earlier that morning. Leon, Yuffie, and Cid were working on getting back to the storage area that hid Cid's Gummis. He said it was about time he re-opened his Gummi shop, "what with all these new travelers showin' up." Aerith said she would be speaking to the Moogles to see if they could dispel the magic they had set up on the top floor of the Accessory shop. She was glad to have made some new friends here, and happy that things seemed to be going better for them. However… she was not happy where she was standing.

For some reason the girl here had been getting on her last nerve. She didn't know why, but she really, _really_ wanted to punch her. She'd never even met her but something just…

"Ah, Miki! Sorry, were you waiting long?"

Akai had just shown up. Miki almost jumped at the sound of her voice and decided she'd figure out what was bugging her later. "Oh, no, not at all. Hey, where's Kurai?"

The kunoichi sighed and pointed up. A loud whoosh-ing sound came from above and a thunk followed. Something rolled across the rafters and tumbled over the side. Miki rushed over to the body and recognized what must have been Kurai. It was the pink hair and all.

"Hey!" She said, trying to wake her up. "Are you okay?"

Akai shook her head and kicked the body. Instantly, Kurai's eyes opened and she hopped up to her feet. "I told you I could do it! I survived!" She grinned and stuck out her tongue. "You now owe me that bag of candy in your side of the refrigerator. Uwaaaa, I wanna go jump again!"

She started running towards the stairs until she realized she wasn't moving. Kurai turned her head and saw Akai holding her shirt. "Hey! Leggo!"

"No. Way. Are. You. Doing. That. Honestly, could you please behave for once?"

Kurai growled, pouted, and then smiled. "If you don't let me go, I'm telling Mr. Spiky-Hair that you once stole a lock of his hair from the barber and put it inside your plushie of him."

"What?!"

"Er…guys? We're making a scene…" Miki had backed up from the two a bit as more and more in town started staring. Akai looked around, blushed, and apologized. She shot a quick glare at Kurai and turned to Miki.

"Sorry about that too… Um, if you're ready, we have supplies and we can leave right now."

"Really? Great!" Miki smiled. She could get started looking for her friends! "I'll follow you then."

"Ok th- Kurai could you _please_ stop gnawing on that candle?"

Miki sweat-dropped and waited for the voice she knew was bound to pop up soon.

-'_Now_ you start to get it.'-

'Well, I can't exactly get rid of you, and you have actually been useful. Why not accept this?'

-'Very good! 5 more-. '-

'Cool points. Yeah, yeah…'

- - . - -

'Go to that land. Find the important heart. Bring it back.'

These were the instructions given to him by the master. Riku formed a portal and left for the world. When he stepped through to the other side, he was in a small room with two bottles on the table in the center. He looked them over and picked up the one with the image of a tree growing smaller. When Riku had shrunk he went straight for the Doorknob.

"huuuuufuuu… Who are you? I'm rather sleepy right now. Can't you come back lat-."

Riku took the Soul Eater and held open it's mouth. With his free hand, he gathered darkness. He concentrated it into a ball no bigger than his eyes and threw it at the keyhole. It hit and spread…. The scattered bits of darkness from the world came together and called out to more through the keyhole's power. Soon, heartless began to emerge and spread out. With that done, Riku stepped away and let the door sleep once more. He opened another portal to take him to the 'important heart'. If you used a normal portal like this, it took you the same amount of time to reach the other side as you would walking. He didn't really feel the need to use the extra energy to make it the other way, so he let it be once inside.

What he found on the other side was a group playing a game he'd never seen before; using birds as the bats and small spiky rats as the balls. A large, loud woman was in the center of the game. When she spoke, everyone listened. Noting the crown, he figured she was a Queen here. This had to be the important heart right? (2)

He called the heartless, a shadow and a knight, to take her heart. They attacked her and she fell, her heart about to come out with one more strike, but the master appeared. He stood next to Riku and made the Heartless disappear.

"That is not the Heart I called for."

"…My mistake."

"I have come to give you a new mission. I want you to spread the darkness through the worlds more quickly. We shall capture the Hearts later. I may send Nepenthe…" he trailed off thoughtfully. "Hmm… Well, I'd like you to place a few traps in the forest. Just in case anyone decides to find our source, I'd like to keep them guessing. Make sure the flows of Darkness stay intact over there, but contact them to my castle, not this world's Heart. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

Before he knew it, there was a hand at his throat. The nails dug in slightly when Ansem leaned in. "'Yes' what?"

"Yes…master…"

"Good." The grip relaxed and his master moved back. He eyed Riku a moment, mumbled something about 'a bit longer', and left.

A feeling completely unfamiliar to Riku came at that moment. His fists clenched and instinct told him to do as much damage as possible to this person. But that wasn't right, was it? As long as he could recall, he had been working for him, of all times why would he be…. 'angry'? It was always like this right?

A tug in his chest brought him out of his thoughts, and he headed towards the forest, unseen by the residents of the world in their commotion.

- - . - -

"urg…..hiiyaaaah!"

With one last slash, Ume fought off what she guessed were the last of the Heartless and walked over to the spoils left on the ground. A few had already disappeared for some reason and she was curious as to what they were.

Several different things were strewn all around her. A bunch of yellow coins and boxes had fallen from her enemies as they fought. She picked up two chests that looked the same and opened up both. Inside each, she spotted a green bottle.

"Oh!" Ume nearly dropped the bottles in surprise. They were potions!

Back at Re'almia, these were really rare. The stuff you made them from were extremely hard to find, and most of the ones in existence were found in a really old chest Ume's parents had stumbled onto. They never expired. Also, if you took one and shattered the glass, the potion would instantly heal the last person to touch it. It was easy to recognize from the odd miniature P's that floated inside it, as well as the green color. There was also talk of an even more rare type of potion: a megapotion. It healed the holder, and up to two people they were thinking of as long as they were in range.

The next box held a silver chain. She hadn't seen the likes of it before…

-'Protect Chain.'-

'Say what now?'

-'Woe to me for the ignorance surround-.'-

'Oh, Nao. I should have recognized the drama.'

-'Ha, ha. I'm trying to help you here. Do you know how exhausted I am?'-

Ume shook her head and closed her eyes. There wasn't anyone around so she thought it'd be fine to speak face to face with him. The Naozumi that greeted her looked terrible. The bags under his eyes must have weighed ten pounds! He looked as surly as ever though.

'Geez, what happened to you?'

-'I took most of the damage from that portal spell! Not only do I have to use you as a source of energy, _but_ I had to use up the little I had left so you didn't _die_! Do you know how long it'll take for me to look normal again? That was at least a year and a half's worth of energy! Goodness…'-

Ume looked surprised and when Nao calmed down she walked over to him.

'Sorry about that… but…'

-''But' what?'-

'Can I take a picture? I doubt I'll ever see you like this again.' Naozumi fell where he was standing. When he stood back up, he flexed his hand and pointed upwards. Ume opened her eyes to the forest.

"Did you just kick me out of my own mind?"

-'Yes.'-

'Oh…'

-'We need to find you a new way out of here soon if you don't want to be swarmed by Heartless. I'll go over these quickly.'-

'Okay.'

-'Alright, you already know what potions are. The far right two are 'ether'. Ether is something like a potion, except it heals your magical stamina. The chain you picked up is an accessory. I once knew someone who managed them in case you're wondering. They can strengthen your body in different ways, but at your level, you could probably hold three as your maximum. Too many on a weak body just cancel each other out. The green orbs you may see are like a potion. Just bits of raw material though, it only heals a small amount at a time. Finally, the yellow orbs are Munny. M-u-n-n-y. It's the currency in every world connected to-… it's the currency around here. Get it. You will need it. Not only can you get more accessories, weapons, and healing items, but you do wanna eat right? You can get a hotel when you come across one with it too.'-

Ume hurriedly collected all the boxes and orbs around her. To her surprise, they instantly gathered onto her when she came in contact with them.

-'They do that. It's the maker's design. If you're at least in close range, they automatically sync to your thoughts of it and transform to fit on you.'-

'Cool. Hey, Nao, I've been wondering…'

-'What?'-

'Who are you?'

"…"

A striped tale appeared in front of Ume's face and by panicked instinct, she grabbed it and tossed it away. When her brain began to work again, she realized her mistake.

-'You are so screwed. Good luck.'-

'Nao! You're leaving again?!'

"…The more…violence, you use the more… violence surrounds you."

Ume quickly fell to the ground. "I'm really, really sorry! I'm super clumsy! Don't kill me?"

If she wasn't mistaken, that was a hiss. Ume's hand fell down to her belt and went for Hanauta Tori. She hadn't dared to touch it before. The last time she had attempted to open it a few years back, something had exploded around it and she went blind for a few minutes. The lid hadn't budged. But, if something bad was about to happen to her, then…

She pulled it out and opened it.

Inside it was a strange block of rubbery material; three pictures; a small, blue-green, tear shaped jewel; and a book that… she couldn't understand. It wasn't readable at all. There were two notes and… holy scimitar!

'Uwaa~ eight pieces of '-Ribbons!-'! I love this candy! Erg- my neighbor's dog was always trying to steal my secret stash….aha!'

Ume took out one candy and unwrapped it. "Please accept this."

The Cat stopped in its stalking and stared. Ume blinked once. When her eyes opened a split second later the candy was gone and the Cheshire Cat had turned his back.

"…nya." He turned back with a softened grin on his face. "Don't expect this in the future…nyu. Here, I'll give you this."

A soft light flitted out from the Cat's claw. It was blue. An icy blue. And it was oh so-

'Pretty.'

It hit her and a familiar feeling spread throughout her chest. This was a spell. Her magic had felt off, and she was unable to properly perform spells. In the last battle she couldn't speak the full words to cast one! But now… she could do it again. Automatically she stood up, pointed at a rock, and aimed.

"Blizzard!"

It frosted over.

"Wha… how did you do that?"

"Simple…Curiosity can teach you many things. Common sense only limits one's potential."

"Thank you!" The Cat sidestepped her glomp and began disappearing.

"It seems that the shadows are coming…"

'Shadows?'

-'Heartless.'-

Ume searched the area around her, wondering just where they were going to come from. She didn't have to wait long. They surged out from behind the tree and… completely ignored her. The Heartless crawled along the walls of the forest, seeping into grass and trees' anything they could. The flowers seemed to be invulnerable, however.

'Why aren't they attacking?'

-'I… don't know. The Heartless seek out Hearts. As long as you have one, especially one of light, they will seek and destroy you. It's like you're invisible.'-

'But they don't really think, right? They're attacks are too random for that. For them to just focus on…whatever they're doing, someone would-!'

-'-have to be controlling them. But why would they start now…'-

'Who?'

-'No… nevermind. Go check it out.'-

Slowly, Ume began to walk towards the other side of the tree, staying close to the foliage. When she was halfway there, the number of Heartless had shrunk. Whoever was causing this, they would be gone very soon. Ume moved faster.

On the other side of the tree, her heart stopped. It hurt. Something was causing her a lot of pain and she didn't understand why. It was as if an invisible string was pulling at her. Her vision was splitting.

-'What's wrong?!'-

'I-…I…don't…it hurts…' She fell and tried to focus. She could see more Heartless around. Not many, but more than she expected. They were heading to a single spot.

'A portal?'

Yes… all of them were walking straight into it. She needed a better view… Ume crawled towards the gateway. When she was almost past the tree, she grabbed the trunk and stood.

'This doesn't make sense!'

- - . - -

Pain?

That was… strange. The closer he got to his exit, the stronger the pain in his chest. Something was preventing him from moving forward, and it was causing a forgotten part of himself to act up…To tell him to turn around…To stay.

'Another headache?'

Riku stopped the Heartless from further sinking into the forest and sent away all the ones he wouldn't be bringing to his next mission. The rest he sent through the portal. He knew he shouldn't get distracted, but he was growing curious. What was wrong? He felt a tug and decided to follow it.

- - . - -

'Nao… What's happening to me?'

-'I can't tell you…'-

'It feels like something is eating away at me. My sight's going black.'

-'Then let me take over. I'll lend you my eyes.'-

'Nao?'

Ume blinked. It was like looking through a window. Or sunglasses. Red ones at that.

'Your eyes are red?'

-'…jokes later.'-

Ume stood up straighter and turned her head.

Silver… Green…

Riku.

She'd found him. Well, the other way around, but it didn't matter! Riku was here! "Riku!"

He looked into her eyes and it was cold.

'Wha-?'

The pain grew stronger. It felt like she was about to scream from it. Something was very wrong. This was him…but it wasn't. Something so…

"Who are you? Why do you know my name?"

He didn't remember?

"Riku? What's wrong with you?" For the first time, Ume noticed his clothing and weapon. The aura around him was different as well. When he lifted a hand and heartless appeared she knew the problem. Darkness. He had been consumed. How had it happened? Wait… the symbol on his chest… that was… Ansem! HE had done _this_?

"Ansem…did…that…to you?"

"Ansem? He's my master. What do you know of us?"

"Enough to know I won't let you stay with him. Please, come with me? I'll figure out a way to fix-!"

Ume fell to the ground. A heartless had broken free and slammed into her. It wasn't one of the heartless normally seen around there. It was a large round one, without legs. It had the strangest face and seemed to fly about the air erratically. Its arms were barely squiggles and the texture was a collision of black and purple. Ansem stepped out of the newly formed portal and bent over Ume and smiled maliciously.

"Not this time little one." He turned his cold eyes to Riku. "Take her back to the castle. I want her in the dungeon. Have Maleficent…speak…with her. She'll know what I mean."

He departed once more and left Riku to do his work.

- - . - -

"Clayton was a Heartless?"

The fight was over and Sora was relating what had happened to Jane. She had hurried over after hearing the commotion and when the barrier disappeared, had rushed in. Right now she was near Tarzan checking him over for wounds. Sora nodded.

"Yeah, or at least, he was working with one. He's gone now though. I'm sorry if…"

"No, it's quite alright. I guess I knew there was always something wrong about him, I just didn't want to notice it. Our group here is small, and this place is dangerous. The thought of just kicking him out didn't work well with my conscience. I'm just glad.." She kissed Tarzan on the forehead. "You all are safe."

Sora blushed and turned away. Doing so he caught a glimpse of something in the trees… It was that gorilla from earlier! Tarzan kept calling him Kerchak… He had two others with him. He looked at Tarzan and they both stared at one another before Kerchak nodded and shuffled off.

"Thank you, Kerchak." Tarzan faced the shattered cliff wall and looked out towards the waterfall. He spoke softly. "Friends…" He picked Jane up briskly and carried her off toward them.

"Friend? Hey! Wait up!" Sora climbed up the wall and looked at the once unseen path. He, Donald, and Goofy hurried along it. After a bit of trouble, and several falls, they came to a cave behind the waterfalls. They went inside…

…and found thousands of butterflies. The blue creatures were fluttering softly all around. They lit up the inside with their wings. In the dead center of the cave, covered with vines, was a tree. There was no soil but… it was there. Tarzan stood with Jane who marveled at it. One of the butterflies flew around them and brushed past Sora's cheek. It landed on a flustered Donald's head.

Tarzan looked at the tree, and uttered the grunts he had spoken earlier at their first meeting. He turned to Sora and pointed at his own chest. He grunted, but spoke something else. "Friends." Grunt. "Fri-ends."

"…Oh… I get it…. You mean, my friends are with me? In my…heart?" Sora placed a hand over his chest. Tarzan nodded. Sora looked down, with a sad smile on his face. He got what Tarzan had said, but it still meant his friends weren't in this world. He'd have to keep searching. Another realization hit him though. His heart. Their hearts. They cared about each other right? Maybe.

"Then maybe they're looking too. Maybe…if we keep each other in our minds…and our hearts… eventually, they'll lead us to each other, right?

As he finished speaking, the butterflies flew swiftly in a circle, and left the cave. Only a small number remained, all gathered closely on the tree. They glowed more brightly. Slowly, as the lights around them faded, they were replaced with the outline of a keyhole. The keyblade warmed and shook in Sora's hand. Guided by its pull, Sora lifted his hand up and pointed at the keyhole. A light from the Keyblade shot out at it. There was a rustling sound, a click, and the keyhole disappeared.

"This was the heart of this world?"

Tarzan grunted. He looked up at Jane and they left the cave together. Sora looked at the Keyblade again, and turned it over in his hands. "Now I know how the whole 'sealing the worlds' thing works. Donald? Goofy? Let's go on okay?"

- - . - -

"Kurai? Why don't we play tic-tac-toe again?"

"Eh? No fun. I wanna….piggyback ride!"

"Wha? No, wai-!"

Kurai jumped onto Miki's back. Needless to say, they had fallen over the next moment.

"Ow…."

"Sorry Miki, we're almost there."

Miki's job, in exchange for free rides on Akai's Gummi Ship 'Sky Dragon', was to keep Kurai busy and _away_ from the wheel. Or any of the shiny buttons that happened to control it.

"Um… is she okay?" While Miki had already recovered, Kurai was still lying on the floor.

"Huh? Oh, she probably just knocked herself out again-"

'Again?!'

"-so don't worry about it. Feel free to walk around the ship. There are windows all around. You can sleep in the lower level if you want too."

"Thank you…"

Miki decided to take a look outside. Kurai had kept her so busy that she hadn't even had the chance to even think about the fact that they were traveling to another world. When she got to the window, she let out a gasp. It looked so…so…strange! There wasn't much light around, but what little there was came from the weird shapes outside. There were so many colors! She also got a couple glimpses of the ships that seemed to be attacking them since they launched. She guessed that they were some weird type of Heartless thing, seeing as they had appeared around the time the Heartless did. According to Akai that is. Every time one got destroyed, it left behind some of the stuff they had passed by in the giant block. They were Gummi extras, and the tractor beam every ship had took it in.

A ship caught her eye. It didn't look at all like the others, and it wasn't firing at them. It hadn't even noticed them apparently, since the Dragon was flying above it. The top part was clear and she could just make out three shapes… Something white…something green? And…brown hair?

Akai's voice made her glance away. "Wow, it's rare to see others traveling nowadays. I thought almost everyone's ships had been destroyed from the Heartless attacks."

"Yeah…" Miki looked curiously at the direction the little ship was flying. Something inside her told her it was important… but she'd have to ignore it for now. She had to find Sora and their friends! Everything else would come later.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

(1)See original Alice in Wonderland book. The Beautiful Soup part of the story I believe.

(2) You can't just go by appearances… In my opinion, one of Riku's character faults is they way he perceives things like this. Because he was physically stronger, he believed that gave his heart power; that it made him worthy when in reality, it's not like that. Yeah, he took it, but only because Sora's heart was filled with doubt. The keyblade can not be with someone whose doubts could let it fall so easily into the wrong hands. On one hand as well, Riku still had light y'know? The keyblade went where it would be safest until its master was ready. (It has a mind of it's own you see.) However, some of the faults/etc you see will be purely for the advancement of the story. ^^; Please ignore this slightly useless bit of info as the author is not capable of forming coherent thoughts and most likely does not know what she's talking about.^^'

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Agh, I ended up making Ume's part uber long. -.- Probably unconsciously making up for last chapter. But still, too long? Meh… Nao has pretty eyes. XD Urgs, It's getting harder and harder to capture Riku. They need to put his game out!!! ;.; Or I need to get a new Gameboy Advance/ Nintendo DS. *played hers so much they broke. O.O * Never did get to start Reverse Rebirth… Bleh. *ish rambling now* Tell me if he sounds _too_ OoC for me ok guys?

**And Sora's parts**… Originally, I wasn't going to say anything at all… but lately I've been doing condensed versions of his travels/encounters. It was kind of unconscious at first, just happening as I tried to keep a good timeline going, but now… I think I'll keep writing it this way. That okay?

Oh! My friend told me they're _releasing the PS2 version of Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories_ soon!! ^____^ (In _english_ that is.^^)

Okies, more character profiles finished and now there are **Weapon/Item Profiles**. I'll add drawings and stuff I've done in paint for visuals later k? (Um, yeah, they kinda stuck,

But… at least you'll get the idea?) (Oh, I think I already put a rough Paint edition of **Kairi's Darkform** outfit up. I'm almost done with a **chara sketch** of Miki, and hopefully I'll get a Nepenthe/Ume/Akai/Kurai out at some point.) Um… oh, and I think there'll be **16 to 17 chapters total** in this story. So you have 8 or 9 more to look forward to.^^ Then **1 or 2 oneshots for CoM**, and finally **KHII:R**. Oooh, I don't want Axel to die~~~. But he might still have to.

P.S.: Thankies to _Charlotte Sometimes_! *been listening to their music* Also, many kudos to the writer of Kagamine Len's _I Without Eyes_. These two songs have been an immense amount of inspiration.©

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OMAKE – "What's on your playlist?"

Kumiku: Playlist? Well… when I'm Kumiku, everything. You never know where you'll find inspiration. Favs are Miyavi, VOCALOID stuff, and various others.^^ As Ume….. Bubblegum pop, soundscapes, Japanese music of all kinds, a bit of Russian pop, and alternative rock. She likes happy music. Mostly cause it used to get on Tundra and her mom's nerves. Secretly a goth metal fan.

Riku: Just regular stuff I guess. Linkin Park, Staind, Dir en Grey, Aqua, Say Anything, THE STAND UP. The Birthday Massacre, Amano Tsukiko….

Kumiku: …Aqua?

Riku: Shut up. -///-

Miki: Music I like? Kate Tucker & the Sons of Sweden, Daft Punk, Weezer, Muse-

Kumiku: ooh, me too!

Miku: -.- …Blink 182, Abingdon Boys School, Kawabe Chieko, Jamiroquai, Michael Bublé, Polysics, Sixpence None the Richer, Rufus Wainwright, Robbers On High Street, Asian Kung-Fu Generation… I just can't think of any others right now…

Sora: For me… MSI, Soundgarden, Seether, Duncan Shiek, Outkast, Black Eyed Peas, Heartsdales, Ludo, Chiodos, Senses Fail, Vivian Hsu, The Pussycat Dolls, Dragon Ash, Eighteen Visions, D'espairs Ray, and Atreyu. I think that's it…

Everyone: O.O

Sora: What?

Kumiku: Holy shiz. Sora, you're like, a rocker-metal-gangster. O.o

Sora: Wha-? You guys are weird.

Riku: Your list doesn't even fit your personality.

Sora: Coming from the guy who listens to Aqua?

Riku: ….**Die**.

Kumiku: You guys! Don't fight in here! :ducks: Not the script- don't throw that! That's it.

Sora: eh?

Riku: Oh crap.

Kumiku: Senryu no Hisame! Tenkaichi Naguru! (Hail of Thousand Dragon! Matchless Strike!)

Miki: I told you not to let her near those martial arts anime!

Riku: It's not my fault! Sora got to rent the movies last week!

Sora: Don't blame me! I left the room!

Miki: That's the exact problem!

Koryu: Must I always clean up? :sigh: Due to some technical difficulties, the studio may be closed down for a week. Also, if I have anything to do with it our boss may be out a bit longer than that. :turns toward the group: I'll be back when the moon is out.

:blank screen:


	9. Chapter 9 part 1

Kumiku: Believe it or not… the chapter is not quite complete.^^;

Riku: Gasp.

Kumiku: See! You do it too! (They had an argument about why Kumiku always says 'gasp' instead of gasping.)

Riku: Only to prove a-! :sigh: nevermind….

Kumiku: Anywhos, I thought the current readers would rather have an update now, so this is Ch. 9 - Part 1. Would you like me to keep updating in installments instead of one giant 20-something oh-god-there-can't-possibly-be-_more_-reading chapter? (This is already ten pages.^^' ) It'll be quicker and easier right? Let me know. Oh, and the very end of this part is weird to me. I _could not_ think of what to write, and the character from the end of chapter 5 will be observing them. Her favorite animal is a fruit fly by the way. Useful in future. Also, coming up: 'Fear' battles and the origins of these creepy creatures.^^ Writing soon…

Quick guide:

- - . - - = new scene/PoV etc.

-.-.-.-.- = flashback/dream

Kingdom Hearts:Rewritten

Chapter 9

- - . - -

-.-.-.-.-

Mum(1) picked me up and sat me on her lap. "Now, there's Light and there's Darkness. You know that right?"

"Uh-huh."

"Well, each has its own special place. It's own world, or zone. Where do you think we live?"

"Well… Light I guess. But, that doesn't explain why there's darkness here. So… are we in that in-between place?"

"Nope. You know how we invite people over our home?"

"Yeah."

"But it isn't their home right? It's ours. So, this realm is Light's home. But, every now and then the people who live here 'invite' darkness over."

"Oh… I get it! But why do people invite it if it's bad for them?" I asked, tilting my head a bit.

"Some people just can't help it."

"Good evening ladies."

"Papa!(1)"

"What brings you out of the workshop so early?" Mum said with a twinkle in her eye.

"I wanted to be here for the story."

When he walked over, I moved off of Mum's lap and sat in the space between them. Moments like that were something when enjoyed. Papa was normally in his workshop working on spells for the forest and simply for research. Mum was normally following her 'creative mind' and developing some weapon or miracle invention, and I was always exploring or out with Tundra. Being together…was really nice.

-.-.-.-.-

"Excuse me…."

The soft voice shook Ume from her sleep. She blinked slowly as the world came into focus, revealing a concerned face. Ume shook her head and sat up on the cold stone floor, shivering while the warm feeling from her dream faded.

…stone? Wasn't she just in a forest?

"Are you okay?"

Ume turned back to the girl who had woken her. "I guess… Um, where am I? This is definitely not Wonderland."

"We are trapped in this dungeon. My captors referred to this place as 'the castle of Hollow Bastion.' My name is Snow White."

"Oh, sorry. I didn't introduce myself. My name is Ume. I was searching for my friends earlier, but I don't know why I'm here."

Snow White paused for a moment of thought. "Could you be another princess?"

"You're a princess? So this is for ransom?"

"Oh, no. I'm not a princess officially, at least not yet, but what I mean is a Princess of Heart."

"Princess of Heart?"

"'A maiden without Darkness in her heart.' I have been captured because of that, but I have no idea as to why they want us. I truly hope my 'family' is okay… They were fighting so hard to stop me from being taken…"

So, that's what they were after. The only ones who would have a use for pure hearts and Darkness… this had to be Ansem. But why would they want me? I couldn't be a Princess of Heart…could I? Wouldn't you know something like that? Regardless, if I really am one of them, then I can't let them have me. I have to escape.

'But while I'm here, I might as well figure out exactly who my enemy is.'

"Um, Snow White? I'm sorry, but could you tell me about the people who kidnapped you, or anything you know at all. I have a hunch that the person I've been fighting all this time is their leader and right now I have almost no idea of what I'm dealing with. I could really use the help. It'd be much easier than traveling the worlds at random."

"You travel between the worlds? Of course I would be willing to help you anyway, however, would you please do me a favor?"

"Sure. What is it?"

"If you run into anyone who knows me, please tell them to not worry. Tell them I will find them someday. But they cannot come searching for me. I don't want them hurt."

"Alright, I'll tell anyone I see."

"Thank you so much! Now, I do not know much myself, but…"

Snow White explained everything she had heard and seen from the time Ansem's helpers arrived at her world until the time she was placed in the dungeon. She spoke of a girl with orange hair, a girl in purple and black clothing, and a boy with lost eyes. The orange-haired girl seemed to lead the assault and was the main one who held off her family as the girl with red hair destroyed the small black shadow creatures that strayed away. The boy was the one who carried her off through a strange gateway and brought her too the castle.

The orange-haired one, called 'Pen' by the other girl, was the one that brought Snow White to Ansem. He spoke to her, told her what she was, and repeatedly asked of her feelings toward her loved ones back home, but Snow White refused to speak, knowing in the back of her mind that it might lead to something terrible. He looked rather amused with her and spoke of her heart belonging to him soon.

He whispered to a woman with a strange outfit and staff and she left the room to bring back a mirror. She waved her staff and it fogged, swirling like that of Snow White's stepmother's magic. He then ordered 'Pen' to take her to the dungeon until further notice. The boy spoke to her on the way, calling her 'Nepenthe', and asking her what he should do with the other Ansem had told him to capture. She told him to take them to the dungeon as well just in case. The boy was back by the time Nepenthe had reached the dungeon and brought Ume along with him. The girl called him 'Riku' and asked exactly why Ansem had ordered her capture. He said he did not know and Nepenthe seemed to become angry, although her expression didn't change much. She had only left about twenty minutes ago and here they were.

"So Riku really is here…"

"Do you know him?"

"Yes… well, not well but… he is still a friend of mine. I only knew him for a short time before his world was destroyed. I never knew what happened to him after that, but…this isn't like the Riku I know at all. He would never let himself be controlled if he could help it…and I'm sure he didn't follow Darkness on purpose. It's just…. Not possible."

"I am sorry about this, but I don't know what to say. Darkness can take even the strongest of hearts."

" I know that. But believing something like that just doesn't seem right."

Snow White smiled and nodded understandingly. Ume smiled back and spoke again. "I have to find a way out of this dungeon. I want to see him, and then escape this place if I can. If I really am one of them, then I can't let them have me. I can help you find a safe place on another world too until I can stop Ansem permanently."

"That's wonderful! But how are you going to leave? They came in with those odd purple lights. I never saw a door, and all that is around here…well, there are just these metal bars."

Ume looked and saw she was right. The place they were in wasn't all that big, and there was no obvious exit. But still… "I have to try."

She looked through the entire area, and eventually, Ume located a switch. When she activated it, both her and Snow White jumped. The bars were moving!

"Yes!"

The hopes didn't last long. All the switches just sealed off another spot when activated, and the places they led to were all dead ends. Ume walked across the dungeon to the other side, and all she saw was a sealed water way. There was nothing.

"Please, do not worry. I am sure that we will find a way soon."

"I don't know." Ume said with a shake of her head. "They'll be back eventually, and I don't know if I'm strong enough to fight them off."

"Then sleep on it. If you relax, I am positive you can think of something. I plan to do the same. Besides, if they come to take me, I do no expect to be so exhausted it will happen easily." (2)

Ume nodded. Both resumed their places in the dungeon and closed their eyes.

- - . - -

Anger.

It was something that had escaped me a long time ago. Never…never had it been so strong. But right now, this rage was clouding my eyes red-orange.

"Oh, Pen! Do you wanna go and….get…something to eat….?" Kairi stepped back when our eyes met.

"Where is Ansem?"

"I-I don't know. I just saw him in the library though. He was telling me about the next mission we would…are you okay?"

I couldn't even bother to say a reply to her question. It wasn't good to take this out on someone else, but I was not in any sort of mood to deal with any other aside from that pathetic shadow. This… was well beyond the line. He swore. And no one with a wish to remain alive in any of the worlds should have broken that promise. In exchange for everything I was, there was only one request. Just one…

-.-.-.-.-

"…so if I follow you, I'll know? I can find a way to stop it from happening?"

"Yes…" The shadow dropped lower, to meet the girl's eye level. "Just swear yourself to me, and my work, and with Darkness will come truth."

"Then… will you promise me something?"

"…"

The girl met the yellow eyed-shadow's amused gaze. "Don't let her, or anyone here know. They can't find me until I find out. And whatever happens…_I don't want them hurt_."

"Naturally. Now, are you ready?"

Without a reply, the shadows began to sweep in…

-.-.-.-.-

Nepenthe reached the door she wanted and stopped. Why was she even here? If Ansem recalled this as her weakness, he might take the chance and use it against her. She was one of the few that never truly submitted to his will. Besides, she couldn't let that person get hurt. It was out of the question. They were the last person around that she cared about, and to let them get hurt…the guilt was already too strong. Anymore and Nepenthe might die. She had to get them away from this place and didn't need Ansem to do it.

She could take care of this herself.

- - . - -

The woman walked down the hall toward the library. If he wasn't observing the Princesses or the project upstairs, this is where he most often went in the castle. The door swung open in front of her raised hand and she entered the Library.

She approached a man sitting at the desk on the upper lever. Hundreds of papers were spread out before him and he was quickly writing down notes. He crossed something out, paused, and continued writing. In the upper corner of the desk were sketches of the machines located in a closed of section of the castle. To the right of those were drawings of heartless that had recently appeared bearing the emblem with notes on their stats. The man continued to write but spoke.

"What is it?" he said in a cold voice.

Maleficent fought the urge to roll her eyes. He didn't seem to understand that she could easily overtake him.(3) The only reason she was here was the fact that he had the technology to draw darkness in mass amounts, and she wanted it. She _could_ do it herself, but why bother working when someone else could sere you? However, the least he could do was show some form of respect. On her world, she was the most feared person in the land…

"About the boy… Riku. There are…complications. He is constantly recalling his memories and they are causing him..._doubt_. While he is still stronger than many subordinates, his will to fight and strength is slowly dropping. He will not cease with trying to break free of my spell and blacking his mind like this will leave him without his heart. I'm certain you do not want that."

He paused writing. "Then stop."

"Excuse me?"

"Stop the spell." Ansem turned around in his chair and narrowed his eyes in irritation. "What is it that upsets him? Why is he resisting us?"

"Well… his 'friends'. He seems to still be rather attached to them." Regardless of whether or not she could defeat him, the castle lord still unnerved her on occasion."

"Then _use_ them. Turn him against them. Make him think that they do not want him. And make him ours to use."

"But how?"

"That is your part." He turned back to his work and began to draw another heartless. "Deceit is your strong suit is it not?"

Maleficent smiled. "Yes."

- - . - -

"Riku?"

Silence. He was even quieter nowadays than when he first arrived at the castle and that was saying something. Whenever Kairi caught his eyes, they appeared to be looking straight through her. It was…creepy. Back home, he was the one that was-. …It was hard to explain. Kairi had loved (and still did love) Sora. Sachiko…well, when they both began to like Sora, that was the end of any friendship they may have had. Riku she never had anything against, and he never acted as if he hated her.

In fact, he was the only person around that didn't question her or think of her strangely for appearing on the island the way she did, aside from Sora. He didn't get completely obsessed as did the other children and try to chase her or stare, expecting something crazy to happen. She was just another person to him, neither good nor bad, and as she was the friend of a friend, he accepted her without a question or any word. Every now and then, Kairi wondered how things would've been if she had fallen for Riku instead. There wasn't anything bad about him really. A lot of people liked him, and he had even gotten a confession or two at the school. He had a quiet personality that turned a bit adventurous when you got to know him, and he was good looking…

But, she knew it could never work out. There was just something there. Kairi's heart was already connected to someone. HerThe red string of fate had chosen it's other half. As for Riku, she could feel that he alreeady had someone too. Even like this, Kairi got a strong feeling about being in the way when she walked by. It was like she was blocking some sort of connection, causing interference. It'd been there for years, and despite the changes they'd all gone through, had gotten stronger.

'Someone must really be attached him….'

"….."

Kairi blinked and realized she had gotten lost in thought. "Sorry. Um, have you seen Pen?"

"P…en?"

"Pen. Nepenthe. It's her nickname!" Kairi said with a grinning laugh.(4) She was glad to finally have someone she could make names like that for and sometimes got a bit excited. "She's been missing for awhile now. I'm kind of afraid to go into her room since it's the first thing she said was off limits. She seemed mad earlier too."

But what could've gotten her like that? "I…don't..kn…ow."

And what had happened to Riku? After the incident when he had passed out, that creepy lady and the Master were always taking him away at the same time everyday. She was never sure where they went, but when he returned, he had this blank, emotionless stare. And now, he could barely speak. Kairi reached out to him and lightly touched his shoulder. At the contact, her hand was shocked away by this weird flair of darkness.

"Riku... what's happening to you? Do you even remember me?" He kept staring through her. "Do you remember anything?"

Kairi saw a spark within his eyes, but it quickly went dead. Why was this happening and? …why….why was he here? She knew her own reason, although thinking about it recently made her more sad than angry. But what about him? He had friends, people liked him, he never lost a fight, and he was 'cool'. What could possibly turn him to Darkness? What did they give to him that he wanted bad enough to give himself up for it? She couldn't just-…

That was it. She couldn't stand seeing him like this. For some reason, she had considered him to be her friend, and still did. It was all starting to hit Kairi. Those people… They were her friends before, and she still wanted them to be. Sora, Riku, and even Sachiko. Before she had fallen for Sora, Sachiko and her were almost inseparable. Kairi's own feelings had been what split them apart. They both had been open about their crush, but when Sora seemed more inclined to the other, Kairi had felt abandoned by her friend, so she wanted to give them the same feeling. Riku had often helped her too. When the other kids would tease her for being foreign to their island, he would stop it instantly. He was always taking care of all three of them. Why didn't she get it before? The reason she was feeling so strange… did she miss it? Being back with them all? More than anything…. She wanted this to disappear. She wanted to rewind back time to the island, and stop herself from meeting the mast- no, Ansem.

If she had never met Ansem, would her feelings have gotten so out of control? Looking back on it all so clearly, he had manipulated her. She was vulnerable and he took advantage of that to turn her away from her friends. She hoped to whatever power there was that they would still think of her that way.

There was still a chance though, to fix things.

'I won't let Riku fall to him. I need to bring him back. But how can I…?'

Whatever they had done made him forget things… so she had to make him remember. The last time he had fallen unconscious, she was speaking of the others on the island. Maybe that had sparked his memories? But she doubted that would work again.

'I wish they were here… Sora…."

- - . - -

Something in his chest jumped. Sora raised his hand to his heart and froze in place. It was as if he was being called somewhere, like something was drawing him away. What was this feeling?

'Sora…'

Whose voice…?

"Sora? Do you want to go to the hotel first or not? The Wizard will still be there tomorrow and we need to talk to Leon, Aerith, and Yuffie."

"Huh? Oh, sure Donald… Hey, where's Goofy?"

"What?"

"Guys! Up here!" Goofy was dangling from the lamp pole above them.

"How did you get up there?" Sora asked, surprised.

"Well, I acciden-tally stepped on that there Moogles tail." He pointed to the angry looking creature. "And all of a sudden I was up here. I wonder what they did…"(4)

Donald let out an incredulous yell and Sora just smiled. He guessed he'd figure out what was wrong later. For now, they needed to find a way to get Goofy down.

- - . - -

"Sora? Does he have brown hair?"

Miki, Akai, and Kurai had just landed on the first world in their journey. At the moment, Akai was chasing Kurai who happened to be chasing the elephant that had been passing by. So Miki took the opportunity to head over to the camp near their landing spot. A woman had walked out with a man in a loincloth and Miki asked them about her friends.

"Yes, yes he does!" Miki said excitedly. 'Is he here?!'

Jane was surprised at the blue haired girl's enthusiasm. As excited as she was, she had to be one of the friends Sora had been looking for during his stay. "Why, no…he's-"

The look on Miki's face stopped Jane from speaking. "I mean, Tarzan and I said goodbye to him at the water fall a couple of hours ago. He may still be there. As for your other friends… I'm sorry, but I haven't seen them around…"

Miki nodded slowly. So Sora was probably still here? Even if Ume and Riku weren't, she wasn't too worried. Ume had Nao and Riku had always been the strongest out of the four. Sora, however, always seemed too naïve for his own good. She couldn't help but worry, especially since she-… She thanked Jane and started walking.

"Oh, wait! What was your name?"

'Oh! I forgot to mention it!' "Ah, I'm sorry. My name is Sachiko, although most call me Miki."

"Don't worry. My name is Jane and this is Tarzan. And, the waterfall is in the other direction…"

"Eh? Thank you!" said a very embarrassed Miki. Miki began heading the other way. A passing thought stopped her once more. "Tarzan? Jane? There's one more person I'd like to ask about."

"Yes?"

"Another girl… She has short red hair and goes by 'Kairi'. Did she…was she here with Sora too?"

Jane and Tarzan looked at one another. Tarzan grunted and shook his head. Jane spoke for both of them. "No, the only two with him were Donald and Goofy."

Donald and…? "Okay. Thank you again for your help!"

- - . - -

In the trees a woman shaped…impression… was visible. She wasn't solid, nor was she shadow like the heartless. Her figure appeared to be watermarked onto the very air. She watch Miki and followed her as she ran off.

'I'm glad I decided to follow this girl. It feels like I'm going to see a lot of the worlds. I've never viewed the Heart of the Deep Jungle…'

The slightly crazy acting partner of Miki's 'travel aids' stopped in her attempt to eat the poor bird that happened to fly by and looked up. Quickly, the woman shifted and shimmered before a small fruit fly appeared in her place. The other girl just raised an eyebrow and looked more closely. That is, until the older girl came to drag her along.

'How interesting! So I'm being sensed? Ah, that makes me want to show myself already. But, that's not allowed just yet. When I do though… what name should I give them? Fake, or……Miko. I'll tell them Miko.'

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1. Ume calls her Mom 'mum' and her dad 'papa' when she's talking to them. But when she's referring to them she says Mom and Dad. Since it's in her PoV for this flashback rather than the usual omnipresent, I decided to use these. :end random useless info:

2. That sounds like the way a princess would talk…right?

3. Uh…that's what _she_ thinks. XD

4: mmkay, Goofy talking=very hard. I think I'm making him sound super… I dunno, 'country' or 'cowboy' or something.^^; Is that okay? Oh, Moogles have mysterious powers. xD

hm… incredulous… did not know I knew that word. xD Weird how you forget the randomest things. I stared at the screen for ten minutes trying to think of the right word to put there before I watched the balalaika and suddenly remembered. xD Again, tre weird.

Hopefully the next part will be included in the bulk release. *wish me luck!*

Argh, my chapters are becoming book length. . Better written though?

;.; Poor Riku. Coma!Kairi soon…. O.O


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